The Immortality Quest (Book 4 of 'BBG')
by NightShadow99
Summary: Demigods never have peaceful lives. Leila discovers that soon enough when her secret is blown and has horrible repercussions for everybody around her. Now on a quest to set things right, time is of value, as the world is unknowingly on the brink of war. The clock ticks as the tension rises, and their quest will test them to their limits, emotionally and physically. Sequel to BCSW.
1. Diana: Rising Tension

**Hey, does anybody like the cover? I made it myself with help from Rinmaru Avatar Maker!**

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><p><em>When it's you and me<em>  
><em>We don't need no one to tell us who to be<em>  
><em>We'll keep turning up the radio<em>  
><em>What if you and I<em>  
><em>Just put up a middle finger to the sky<em>  
><em>Let 'em know that we're still rock 'n roll<em>

_-Rock 'N Roll, Avril Lavigne_

*Diana's POV*

"Hey, hey, cut that out!" I said as I walked over to the group of campers crowded around a fight.

When I made my way past the crowds, I saw Seth glaring at a slightly older Ares camper, his bright blue eyes sparking furiously. The Ares camper -thirteen year old Hunter- was glaring at my baby brother, and Benjamin Stoll was a little behind Seth, supporting a slightly injured Anubis.

Rowan -Seth's Aphrodite friend Rowan, not the late older Athena camper Rowan, who had died on a quest sometime before Lily came to camp- looked conflicted, standing in front of the crowd yet her eyes were darting back and forth between them uncertainly.

Right before I could get to them, Hunter punched Seth in the face, who staggered back a few steps before shoving him blindly, packed with an electrical shock that sent Hunter back a bit. Don't blame me if I felt a little bit proud.

"Stop that right now!" I snapped as I stepped in between them, pushing them away from each other before they could do any damage.

Hunter glared up at me, and tried to push me away, but I didn't budge. "Oh, no you don't," I said calmly, reaching deep down into the last dredges of my patience, which wasn't that deep, according to Alex, and handed him over to his friends, who kept him from lunging forward again.

Satisfied, I turned around to face Seth, who still looked a little angry, and he had a black eye. "What happened?" I asked him, and he sighed.

"We were just swordfighting with each other and Ben , when this _jerk_-" Seth jabbed a thumb in Hunter's general direction, "-suddenly walks up and challenges him. Ben won, but Hunter got angry and said that he cheated. Anubis insisted that Ben didn't, so Hunter called him an 'emo' and told him to go cut himself! Anubis got angry and they got into a fight, and when I tried to break them apart, Hunter punched me and called me names so I hit him." Seth fumed.

"I am not a jerk!" Hunter yelled out angrily, and Seth instantly retaliated with, "Then you're a liar as well as an awful loser, *culo!"

"Seth!" I chided. Okay, okay, call me a hypocrite. I know you're all thinking that.

"Anubis, are you okay?" I asked the son of Melinoe, and he nodded, wincing a little when he faded suddenly to come back to focus a few seconds later.

"Benjamin, can you take Anubis to the infirmary? Seth, you're coming with me. The rest of you guys, there's nothing to see, so mind your own business!" I said, and they scattered, giving me space to take Seth back to the Hades cabin.

Seth looked unusually upset, and sparks kept jumping off from him as he kept staring at the ground the whole way.

_'What's going on? Why's Seth upset?'_ Soren asked from his place on his desk, looking up as we came in, shutting the door behind us.

'_I don't know._' I said, seating Seth on his bunk, where his eyes were downcast. I crouched down in front of him as I brushed the hair away from his eyes, trying to get him to look at me.

"Seth," I said softly, "what's wrong?"

My little brother's eyes had darkened to brown again, and he kept avoiding eye contact with me as he kicked his feet a little. Soren got up from drawing on his sketchpad, and walked over to us, where he stood behind me.

"..." Seth muttered something I didn't catch, and dropped his head even more, drawing his legs up to curl up into a ball.

"What was that?" I said, and Seth wrapped his arms around himself tighter, raising his head a bit. His sad brown eyes made him look so vulnerable that I wanted to hug him and comfort him, but I knew Seth didn't want that.

And whatever made Seth this upset, was serious.

"Hunter said that I was a pathetic faggot who hung around emo weaklings," Seth mumbled, and I tensed, while Soren became stone still.

"I'm going to _kill_ him," Soren snarled, the cabin's lights going out as he spun around and lunged for the cabin door. I shot up from my position, holding onto Soren's arm to prevent him from going out.

Soren whipped around, ice cold fury blazing in his eyes. "Let me go, Diana." He said, deadly soft, and I shook my head.

"This won't solve anything. You know how Ares campers are, attacking them will only provoke them. They'll lose interest soon if there isn't any retaliation," I reasoned, sounding a bit like Alex.

My twin struggled for a moment before he sighed, dropping his hand from the doorknob. '_No, but it'll make me feel better,'_ Soren admitted.

'_Me, too. I think we need to go on that quest soon now,'_ I said, and Soren sighed, walking back to us swiftly.

'_Real soon. Lily says we're going to leave tomorrow.'_

'_Thank the gods. I can't stand the tension anymore.'_

"Seth?" Soren said quietly, and Seth looked up. I looked at him, too, and saw that Soren's dark blue eyes were upset as well, and sympathetic.

"I'm sorry," Soren whispered, and Seth nodded silently, and Soren awkwardly rubbed his younger brother's back comfortingly before he walked away.

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><p>Quietly, I slipped inside the cabin without making a sound.<p>

"Uh, yeah, yes, yes, and no."

The black haired boy inside was talking to a shimmery image of his parents, Percy and Annabeth. I was approaching from behind, so he didn't see me, but Annabeth caught sight of me.

I quickly put a finger to my lips, signaling her to not give me away, and she nodded slightly, a mischievous glint in her grey eyes. I returned my attention to the boy in front of me, and stealthily crept closer, waiting.

"There's nothing new, and yeah, I'm perfectly fine. I IM'ed Amy a few days ago, and she said she was having fun." He continued, not noticing my silent approach.

"So, Alex, any surprises?" Annabeth asked, and I took it as my cue. Alex shrugged, and that's when I pounced.

"I-AHHHH!" Alex yelped as we went crashing to the ground, me on top. I quickly popped back up again, and waved cheerily to the Chase-Jacksons.

"Alex's really dumb sometimes, don't you think?" I said, motioning to Alex as he pushed himself off the floor, glaring at me half-heartedly.

"I know where it came from, and it isn't me," Annabeth laughed, and Percy frowned.

"I'm not dumb!" He protested, and Annabeth snickered, giving me a wink. "I never said you were, Seaweed Brain," Annabeth said patronizingly, and Percy pouted, which looked odd on an adult.

"But it was implied!" Percy insisted, and Annabeth smirked. "But did I actually say it?" She shot back.

Alex groaned as his parents started going back and forth, and he slapped his hand to his forehead. "Why me?" He whined, and I grinned.

"Your mom's right, do you know that?" I said, patting him on the head. "You _are_ dumb sometimes,"

"What?" Alex exclaimed, his hand dropping from his face as he looked at me in shock. "I am not!"

"You are so!" I insisted, noticing that Annabeth and Percy had stopped arguing, and instead were watching us back and forth.

"Am not!" Alex protested, using his hands for emphasis and nearly ended up accidentally disconnecting the IM.

"Are!"

"Not!"

"Are!"

"Not!"

"Are!"

"Not!"

"Not!"

"Are!... Wait, what?" Alex said confusedly, and I burst out in laughter.

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><p><strong>Not much of a cliffie yet, but beware: I haven't suddenly developed compassion during the break! I am still the evil writer you all hate and love!<strong>

**This was just basically a filler, and their quest will begin soon, so don't worry!**

**And the entire thing about Seth, well, remember when Leila noticed the growing tension in Olympus? Yeah, it's started to effect their children, and there's already a barely-there rivalry running between the demigods, and it's according to which side their parent had been in the Trojan War.**

**Here's the list (I didn't make it up, it's legit)**

**Greek side:**

**-Hera, ****Athena, ****Poseidon, ****Hermes, ****Hephaestus**

**Trojan side:**

**-Aphrodite, ****Ares, ****Apollo, ****Artemis, ****Leto, ****Eris**

**Neutral:**

**-Zeus, ****Hades, ****Demeter, ****Hestia**

**So it explains the thing about why Hunter suddenly decided to pick on Benjamin, who's technically a Hermes camper, and Hunter is an Ares camper.**

**Anyway, Review count is 5!**

**{Replies to Reviews (For the last epilogue in BCSW)}**

**MeganAnnabethJackson- Can I just say THANK YOU? I really appreciate your support, and I'll try hard not to disappoint you! Thanks for your suggestion on my antagonist, but please, don't tell anybody yet, 'cause it's important that nobody knows the name. By the way, good luck on your story! I'll always try to be as helpful as possible!**

**Guest (a.k.a DeliahAndKyle)- WHEEEE!*squeals* Okay, I don't really do that in real life, but hey, this is cyberspace. And your review made my day!  
>Kyle, thanks for loving my story so much! And I like to personally reply to each and every reviewer because I know the feeling of being noticed and appreciated, and it's an awesome feeling! Hope you loved this chapter, too!<br>Deliah, you're _so_ lucky to have a best friend like him. I don't have any friends around me to fangirl about books with! To them, they have 'English allergies', and most of them hate reading, anyway... my life sucks.  
>P.S. Deliah, I think the official term for Kyle would be fanboy! Now you made me want to introduce you both to the other fangirlsboys on Facebook! Dammit!  
>P.P.S. Of course, I wouldn't mind watching the blackmail vid, either. Fanboying is always an interesting thing to watch, right up there with fangirl squealing!<strong>

**FictionalSalvation- A fabulous wombat! Whoo! How about a flaming wombat? Y'know, as a tribute to Piper or something. And that's what I thought, too! I was looking for the right phrase for the chapter title, and it popped out at me! Psst! I've got a lovely, excruciating, awesome cliffhanger, just for you! And hurrah for the capitals! Seriously, it looks better with them.**

**R&R, and welcome to a whole new ride! (Yes, I am a Maximum Ride lover. Kudos to any Fax fans out there!)**

**~~XxThalicoRULZxX**


	2. Soren: White Angel

**Dedicated to MeganAnnabethJackson for being the first reviewer!**

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><p><em>The world's a gun and I've been aiming all my life<em>  
><em>Got something to live for, I know that I won't surrender<em>  
><em>A warrior of youth<em>  
><em>I'm taking over, a shot to the new world order<em>  
><em>I am bulletproof<em>

_-I Am Bulletproof, Black Veil Brides_

*Soren's POV*

I stifled a yawn as I stretched in front of my cabin, before glancing at the sun rising over the horizon.

I had woken up unusually early, unable to sleep well because of anxiety. And as a result, I had barely gotten more than four hours' worth of sleep, and now my mind was scrambled already.

_Gods, I'm tired before the day barely started, and we didn't even start on our quest yet. Great job, Soren._ I thought tiredly, blinking the sleep out of my eyes as I walked down the steps and crossed the camp, seeing that Lily's cabin had already had its lights on.

I knocked once, and the door opened a few seconds later, revealing Lily who looked like she was having a nervous breakdown. She let me in, and I stepped in to sit down on an available spot.

On her bunk, there was a half-full backpack, and several other items were strewn on the floor and desk. "We're going on a quest, not immigrating to a nearby country. Just pack the essentials," I suggested, and Lily sighed, rubbing her forehead wearily.

"I know, but well, this is my first quest and-" Lily stopped when she saw me roll my eyes, and looked questioningly at me. "This is my first quest, too, and you don't see me freaking out. Everything will be okay, and you'll get to be a demigod," I said.

"But you're up early. You never do," Lily pointed out, and I held my hands up in mock surrender. "Fine, fine, I'm just as nervous. But unlike you, I'm not packing and unpacking every few minutes," I said, and Lily smiled a little, walking away to pick up some of the objects -canteen of nectar, plastic bag of emergency ambrosia, some drachmas, and her silver dagger.

I guessed that her change of clothes were already packed, as the pack had already been half-full when I had came in, and Lily didn't stuff in more clothes.

"What was the prophecy again?" I prompted Lily, just to make sure she hadn't forgotten. Lily huffed, but started reciting obligingly.

"_The star and three shall seek the lost,_

_A promise kept no matter the cost._

_Start from the beginning, the white angel's fall,_

_And shall face the fears, one and all._

_Death by the hand of one closest to heart,_

_Two becomes one to play his own part._

_A choice made for death, war, or peace,_

_Remember the past, and all will cease._"

"What a depressing prophecy we have," I commented, and Lily rolled her eyes saying, "Thank you, Captain Obvious."

"You're welcome, Lieutenant Sarcasm," I shot back. "My pleasure, Comrade Comeback," Lily said without missing a beat, and I smirked. "Anytime, Senior Smartass."

Lily opened her mouth, but closed it again. "Damn, I'm beat. You win," She said, laughing, and I smirked wider, having successfully distracted Lily for the time being. "Sorry, I didn't hear that. What was it again?" I said, snickering, and Lily snorted, both amused and exasperated at the same time.

"You're a-" Lily started to say, but her voice suddenly faded out, and my surroundings disappeared.

"*Che cazzo?"I muttered as my body gave out.

_Confusion flooded me as I blinked, but everything still seemed fuzzy and out of control. What I could see, was indistinct, and had dream-like qualities. And it suddenly sharpened into focus, and I could see flashes of pictures, so quickly I nearly missed them._

_A monster lunging towards a body, who appeared unconscious. A scream piercing the air. Burning pain in my wrists, getting unbearably hot. Agony. A hand reaching out for me, only to pass straight through my own. A silver bracelet gleaming an odd red. Cold. And the picture of the night sky, dotted with numerous stars. _

_And underneath it all, I could sense Diana's fear, her desperation as she fought to escape her nightmare. I was in her dream._

_The pictures flashed by again, the same as before. A monster lunging. An ear-piercing scream. Burning. A hand passing straight through my own. A rusty red gleam in silver. Coldness. Stars._

_'I need to wake up.' Diana's thoughts echoed faintly, and more frantic when she didn't. 'Wake up!'_

_The blur of pictures became painfully bright, hurting my eyes as everything faded and got whiter and whiter, surrounding me in blinding whiteness._

_Wakeupwakeupwakeupwakeup-_

Diana's scream pierced straight through me as I snapped back to my own body, so quickly I think I got mental whiplash, if it was possible.

"Soren!" Lily sounded close to tears, and I blinked, instantly assaulted with a splitting headache that seemed to reverberate though my entire mind.

I groaned, slowly getting up from the ground as I steadied myself with a hand pressed against the cabin wall, and the other against my forehead. Lily hovered anxiously beside me, clearly biting back questions as I tried to reassert control over my body.

What had happened? I'd never been pulled into Diana's own mind before, never less her dreams. Our mind link had gotten stronger the more we got older and the more time we spent around her, but it had never been this intense.

And being pulled into her mind like that, to her dreams and her own raw emotions, not secondhand through telepathy, screwed up with my mind. Majorly.

I felt strange- for a few terrible moments, I hadn't felt sure if I was Soren or Diana.

Taking in a shaky breath to calm my nerves, I started heading for the door. I needed to get to Diana, she needed me.

"Soren, what-" Lily called out after me, moving to stand right next to me, when the door flew open right under my hands.

Diana stood there, her breath equally as ragged as mine, as Alex wrapped an arm around her waist to support her. My twin looked paler than before, and her eyes were unfocused before she blinked again, and Diana sucked in a deep breath.

"Okay, what happened, exactly? It took me a good few minutes to even wake Diana!" Alex demanded, and we both turned around to look at him, getting calmer now.

"Nightmares," Diana admitted, rubbing her eyes wearily as she leaned against Alex.

There was silence for a few seconds before Alex broke it, saying, "Okay. Did anybody decipher any part of the prophecy yet?"

We all looked at one another, before Lily started to speak. "'The star and three shall seek the lost' obviously means us, and the 'lost' is the Golden Apple. But I don't know what the third line is about. What white angel?" She asked.

'_White angel... why does it sound so familiar?' _I mused, and Diana straightened, her face deep in concentration.

'_In the second Great Prophecy, there was 'Twins snuff out the angel's breath'. Remember?'_

_'Yeah. The angel meant 'di Angelo'. And our dad nearly ended up dying of asphyxiation in an air-tight jar.'_

_'What if-'_

"-'Angel' meant 'di Angelo' again?" I ended up saying it aloud, much to Alex and Lily's confusion. And then Alex's eyes widened, but Lily still looked puzzled.

"Then what's the whole thing about the 'white' angel's fall?" Lily asked, and Alex looked at us.

"Bianca di Angelo. Bianco means 'white' in Italian. The white angel's fall would mean Bianca's death. And she died in a quest to save Artemis and find the Ophiotaurus." Diana said, and I nodded.

Alex looked thoughtful. "Since the prophecy told us to start from the beginning of her death, I'm guessing that it means us to start in the same place where her quest -which led to her death- first started."

"And that would be..." Lily looked frustrated, looking back and forth between us for answers. I rubbed her shoulder to placate her, and said, "We're getting to that part, Lily."

"I think it was some sort of museum," Diana said, frowning slightly. '_I don't remember that part, either,'_ I said when she glanced at me, and she shrugged.

"Museum... The Air and Space Museum in D.C! My dad caught up to them there!" Alex exclaimed, and Lily stared at him weirdly before she apparently decided to drop the subject.

"D.C's about 5 hours drive away from here," Alex said, and Diana rolled her eyes. "We can fly with the pegasi, idiot," she sighed, and Alex smiled. "It takes about the same time with flying, too. Besides, we'll need to stop at least once to let them rest before we go on, Di."

"Well, then, at least we now have a destination in mind! The prophecy can be figured out later, now let's get going!" Diana said, urging us all out of the cabin except Lily, who slipped inside for some last minute checking, and I followed Diana back to our cabin to grab our backpacks.

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><p>"How long do we have left?" Alex called out from behind me and Diana, and we said in unison, "Two hours,"<p>

One of the advantages of being a legacy of Zeus, was that Diana had perfect bearings in the sky, much like how Alex does on the ocean. And me, being a legacy of Hades, the same applied to being underground.

"Make that three hours, 'cause the pegasi are getting tired. We need to stop for rest, or we'll drop from the sky," Alex reported, and Diana sighed, before she sent her own pegasus in a downward angle, and Lily, Alex, and I quickly followed behind.

Suddenly, Diana decided that she was bored, and wanted to show off.

"Holy Leto! What are you doing!" Lily yelped from behind me when Diana started to move from her position on the saddle, and gave us a cheery wave before pushing off and started to plummet straight towards the ground.

"Soren! Do something!" Lily panicked, but I just sighed, exchanging a glance with Alex who was laughing silently as he watched Lily stare with horror at my sister.

"She's perfectly fine," I reassured her as Diana tucked her knees in and excuted three perfect aerial spins before she stopped two feet above the ground, and landed lightly, finishing off by a one-handed cartwheel.

"Oh my gods, Diana! Don't ever do that to me again! You almost gave me a heart attack!" Lily shrieked as she ran over to Diana as soon as she landed, almost knocking her over in a hug.

"I can't promise that. Legacy of Zeus, remember?" Diana said, and Lily groaned, turning to face Alex as he came up to them. "Can't you do anything?" She said, and Alex laughed out loud.

"If I knew how to get her to listen, our lives would've been a lot simpler. You just have to get used to it," He said, and Diana flashed a smile triumphantly.

'_Show off,'_ I commented as I landed not far behind her, and Diana smirked. '_You're just jealous,'_ She retorted, and I rolled my eyes. '_Yeah, because I really want to fall from the sky. Catapedaphobic, speaking here,'_

I shivered inwardly just thinking of the drop, a few hundred feet in the air. You can't blame me for not wanting to jump. Have you seen how skydiving people end up in horrible accidents and die? And I don't think I need to bring up more examples.

"Yeah, 'cause you're so terrified of death," Diana said aloud, mimicking, and I glared at her.

"It's actually quite rare to be not scared of dying. Disliking jumping from heights -because you might die, is perfectly rational," Lily defended, which I appreciated. Finally, someone who sees sense.

"Not me," Diana said.

"Diana? Soren? Lily?" Alex called out.

"But you have an irrational fear of dolls," I continued on as if he hadn't spoken, and Diana crossed her arms defensively, completely ignoring Alex trying to get our attention. "You do?" Lily asked Diana.

"I am not scared of dolls. They just creep me out. Their eyes!" Diana shuddered. "They're always watching me,"

'"... And that just proved my point." I pointed out.

"No, it didn-"

"Diana!" Alex shouted, and she jumped, breaking eye contact with me, as I turned around. "What?" Diana asked, and Alex pointed behind us.

"We have company."

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><p><strong>The second chapter of TIQ!<strong>

**I really hope this story will be liked as much as BCSW, and I'm working hard not to disappoint you! Longer chapters, and more action!**

***The person who guesses what kind of 'company' they have, gets a dedication on the next chapter! I'll be doing dedications regularly for chapters, unlike BCSW, when I only did it sparsely.***

**What do you think of the prophecy?**

**Review count is 5! I know the last chapter's review count wasn't fulfilled, but I just wanted to get the story going!**

**{Replies to Reviews}**

**MeganAnnabethJackson- Yeah, I think so, too! And you've got that right! TIQ's angst levels will make BCSW look like a joke book! *Thunder booms* Thank you for being the first reviewer, and I hope you like the dedication!**

**FictionalSalvation- Thanks for your help on my O.C s! And you'd better keep a necromancer at your side if you want to be prepared! Maybe you can kidnap Nico? But please not Soren, I need him for the story! I'll give you a dedication on your cliffhanger chapter, so you'll know when it is!**

**Thank you for reading!**

**R&R!**

**~~XxThalicoRULZxX**


	3. Leila: Inner Demons

**Dedicated to randomer11 and FictionalSalvation for getting halves right each! Calliope=ghost+Hunter+demigod. Did you know that both of you guessed Hunter?**

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><p><em>Tonight will change our lives<em>  
><em>It's so good to be by your side<em>  
><em>We'll cry<em>  
><em>We won't give up the fight<em>  
><em>We'll scream loud at the top of our lungs<em>  
><em>And they'll think it's just cause we're young<em>  
><em>And we'll feel so alive<em>

_-The Great Escape, Boys Like Girls_

*Leila's POV*

It was _her._

"Who are you?" Diana asked, and the other girl slowly turned her head around to face her. She looked barely preteen, but her dark green eyes looked centuries old.

"Who am _I_?" The girl repeated, her voice mocking as she returned her attention on me, a sneer curling her lips. "Perhaps, thy dear Astra could tell thee," she said, her familiar accent sending shivers down my spine.

Alex and Soren turned to look at me questioningly. Or rather, Alex did. Soren just stepped closer to me, narrowing his eyes suspiciously at the girl in front of us.

"Callie..." I breathed out subconsciously, and Callie's sneer turned down into a scowl. "Thou _dares _to call me that, after everything?" Her Ancient Greek accent made it all the more sinister.

"Who are you, and what are you to Lily?" Diana demanded, and Calliope glared at her. "'Tis not thy concern," she hissed, and Diana took a step forward threateningly.

"Wait, Diana," I said, my voice cracking slightly. Diana and Alex turned around to stare at me at the same time, confused expressions on their faces. Calliope locked eyes with me, her dark green eyes filled with anger and betrayal.

"Calliope is.. was.. my best friend from centuries ago," I whispered, and Calliope crossed her arms. "A best friend who _died_ because of thy betrayal," she corrected, steadily glaring straight at me.

"Then-" Alex started.

"And one who has come to take vengeance," she snarled, before suddenly lunging forward at me, her ghostly fingers curved into claws.

I stumbled back from the force of her attack, which had felt very real, even if she was a ghost. Then, I realized that it hadn't been Calliope who had pushed me back, but Soren, who had moved faster than I could see.

"She's a damn _l__emure_!" Soren spat out as his Stygian Iron sword materialized in his hands, and Calliope's face twisted into a mask of utter fury.

"Thou may be a child of the Underworld, but like thy father, thou do not control me. I am Lady Melinoe's servant!" She shrieked, and that's what it took for all of us to move into action.

Alex summoned his own sword, while Diana whipped out her own spear. Calliope just gave a cruel laugh, before she raised her arms, starting to chant in Ancient Greek, her words haunting and dark. An odd freezing sensation rushed through me, and all the sounds in the near area stopped, becoming deathly silent except for her words.

Soren, for some reason, suddenly faltered, his eyes darkening to pitch black as all the color -or what little he had, drained from his face. "Not.. not normal.." He gasped out, the air around him turning colder.

The wind started to swirl around her, and the air all around us shimmered as a dozen dark shades appeared, their smoky forms covered in armor and each had a weapon that was bloodstained.

"Merda," Diana hissed under her breath as we all backed up, our shoulders barely touching as they pressed in closer. Calliope stood behind her shades, watching with a sickly sweet smile on her face.

"Let's see how thee likes being betrayed, Astra." Calliope purred, and the shades charged forward.

I barely had time to unsheathe my dagger before the first of them reached us, and I blocked a blade coming towards my face as I kicked out, hitting it in the breastplate, forcing it to move back as I attacked, taking a step forward.

Calliope's continuous chant threaded its way into my memories, calling out my worst memories and darkest times. I cursed under my breath as my distraction nearly made me get speared, and tried to ignore everything as I tried to remember the swordfighting techniques.

A huge gust of wind, followed by a shout and a burst of electricity behind me proved that Diana was holding her own well, and a look to my left showed the same for Alex, a kind of grim determination on his face as he slashed his way through the horde.

I had to take a step back to avoid a spear from a particularly persisting shade, and brought my dagger out and to the right as I plunged it straight into where its heart would be.

It vaporized with a howl, and I wasted no time whirling around to fight another one, dodging a stray sword as I did so.

"Soren!" Diana cried out, and I nearly crashed into Alex while trying to whip around to spot him, and I barely sidestepped in time as Alex brought his sword down on a ghost that had snuck up behind me.

Soren was fighting off the ghosts that attacked him okay, but he looked odd. It was then I realized that he was pale from pain, biting his lip so hard that blood trickled down his mouth.

Then I realized that Calliope had focused her chant directly on him, and now, instead of the chant being of summoning shades, the Ancient Greek that tumbled from her lips so easily, was a spell that spoke of dark memories and inner demons.

And out of all of us, Soren would take it the hardest, and Calliope probably knew by now that the best way to hurt me was not attacking me directly, but through my friends.

Suddenly, fury rushed through me, and I vaulted right over a dark shade as it tried to stab me in the stomach, and shifted mid-air, landing as a silver wolf.

I snarled loudly, and Calliope glanced at me, before her chant became faster, and the air got even colder.

"Get her! Alex and I'll keep off the ghosts," Diana called out, and I hardly needed any more encouragement as I leaped forward, knocking a shade down and disintegrated another with a snap of my jaws.

I didn't bother with dodging any other shades that came in my way, instead plowing straight through them, making them easy targets for Alex and Diana. I ran right past Soren, and lunged forward at Calliope, who shrieked furiously, clawing at me with ghostly fingers as we tumbled over on the ground.

The daughter of Hecate and former Hunter was on her feet in a second, though, and she brought out her own sword that shimmered in the light.

I couldn't use my powers while in wolf form, so I settled for lunging at her again, knocking her down for the second time. This time, however, I kept her pinned underneath me as she struggled, her sword managing to slash at my paw before I clamped my teeth around them and yanked, throwing it a good few feet away.

Shifting back, I bent over her with my dagger out, and I spat out, "Don't ever mess with me or my friends ever again," before I plunged downwards.

Calliope's eyes held mine even as she died, though a flash of fear passed through them just before she dissipated into nothing.

I landed hard on my knees and hands, and I breathed heavily, shifting slightly to relieve the pressure on my injured hand from earlier. It throbbed, but I got up slowly to my feet, ready to help my friends, when the ground suddenly started spinning under my feet.

"Wha-" Cold hands caught my shoulders, preventing me from smacking straight into the ground. I blinked to clear the fogginess of my mind before I straightened up again.

"Careful there," Soren murmured, checking to see if I could stay on my feet before he let go, and I saw that his lips were red with blood. But aside from that, and a nick on his cheek, he looked okay, which made me relieved.

"Lily, are you okay?" Alex called out, and I looked over to see Alex and Diana heading towards us, looking tired and they both had multiple scratches and wounds. Diana had a large bruise on her left forearm with scratches all over the rest of her, while Alex had a slash down his jawline and his knuckles were split.

"Yeah," I sighed, instinctively pressing my hand against the cut on my other hand, which Soren noticed. "No, you aren't," Soren said, slowly but firmly bringing my hand up for him to inspect.

"Yes, I am," I insisted, pulling my hand out of his grasp, fighting not to wince as it throbbed again. "Here, it'll help," Alex said, handing us both a small bite-size piece of ambrosia, which I ate gratefully, feeling the pain decrease. Soren's lips sealed up again, and the nick on his cheek faded to a pink line, though the blood made him look like a vampire.

"You still need that to be bandaged, it's too deep to be healed straightaway," Alex said, rummaging through the pack he had grabbed from the pegasi saddles. And speaking of pegasi, they had fled to a safe distance while we were fighting, much to my irritation.

"Give me a sec," Alex said, pulling out antiseptic and an Ace bandage. I tried to distract myself by looking up at the sky. Even so, I yelped, flinching when Alex accidentally poured the antiseptic a bit too suddenly, and Alex gave me a apologetic glance when Soren glared at him.

"That was... interesting," Diana commented dryly as she munched on her own piece, the small scratches disappearing and the bruise got smaller, shrinking from the size of my palm to one of a dollar coin.

"Who was Calliope, anyway?" Alex asked, and I turned away slightly, feeling the irritating sting behind my eyes. _I don't cry_. I reminded myself.

"Callie- Calliope, was my best friend when I had been in the Hunt. She was like a big sister to me, always taking care of me, but she died when Lycaon attacked the Hunters' campsite," I whispered, staring down at the ground. I felt like a hypocrite, killing the person who had once been my closest friend, when I had been the one who had caused her death in the first place.

A hand rubbed my back comfortingly, and I looked up again to see Soren. "It wasn't your fault. It was Calliope's choice to become a _lemure_, an unfriendly spirit. She could have forgiven you, but she chose not to," he said quietly.

"Right. If she had been a real friend, she would have let go of her grudges," Alex added, and I smiled weakly. "Thanks," I said, looking at Diana, who was looking puzzled.

"Wait, wasn't a lemur a monkey?" She asked confusedly, and Soren rolled his eyes, while Alex cracked up laughing. "_Lemures,_ not lemurs." Alex said through his laughter, making me crack a grin, and even Soren gave a half-smile.

* * *

><p>"Alright," Alex snapped as we walked out of the fast food place.<p>

Diana was smirking openly, while I was choking down on a laugh that bubbled up in my throat. Soren was poker-faced as usual, but his eyes held amusement that couldn't be concealed.

"Whose idea was it to put that fucking Cayenne pepper in my food?" Alex positively snarled as he wheeled around to face us, gritting his teeth.

My eyes widened. Wow, Alex almost _never_ cursed, or at least out loud. He must be really pissed.

Alex's eyes were still a little red from earlier, when Alex had reacted pretty badly to the spicy pepper. It had taken him a lot of drinks of water, a trip to the restroom to wash out his mouth, and more than few dozen odd looks from the other customers to get him calmed enough to even speak coherently.

However, Diana didn't have any qualms in bursting out in laughter, and Alex switched his glare to her, who was doubled over clutching her stomach. I couldn't contain it anymore, and finally snickered myself, and Alex looked at me weirdly.

"It-it was S-soren's idea!" I choked out through my laughter, and Alex swung his heated look to Soren, who looked cool as a cucumber.

"What?" Soren said innocently, and Diana and I burst into fresh peals of laughter as we nearly fell over each other in our mirth. The water fountain we were passing by, trembled dangerously, and I swear the fountain's water pressure got stronger.

"You _know_ I can't eat spicy foods, much less Cayenne!" Alex wailed, and Soren smirked. "I know, which was why I thought of it in the first place. Besides, it was Lily who carried it out, in revenge for earlier," Soren said calmly.

Alex huffed, pausing to take a drink from the bottle of water he had somehow gotten without our knowing.

The pegasi were waiting for us in a deserted alley, and they whickered softly at Alex, who just shook his head, rolling his eyes at the same time.

"These idiots gave me a freaking Cayenne pepper," He sighed, and one of the pegasi whinnied, nudging him with its muzzle, and Alex groaned. "Not you, too!" He said.

"Hey, it's getting dark already. Funny how time flies," I commented as I looked at the sunset, and Diana smiled.

"Where are we going to crash? We're going to fly for two hours tomorrow and search for something we don't even know, so we need to get some rest," Alex said, and Soren shrugged.

"Don't know, don't care," he said, and Alex muttered, "Thanks a lot, bud," as he said something again to the pegasi, who nuzzled him one more time before flying off out of sight.

"What did you say to them? Don't we need them to fly tomorrow?" I asked, confused. "I just told them to rest and stay out of sight until tomorrow," Alex explained, starting to walk aimlessly out of the alley, all of us following him.

After what seemed like an endless moment, Alex finally spoke up. "Where'd you even get the Cayenne peppers? Last time I checked, McDonalds don't have Cayenne peppers on the menu," he said, his eyebrows furrowed slightly. Diana smiled, reaching up to ruffle his hair affectionately.

"That's for us to know, and you to find out," she snickered.

"But now, we need to find some place to rest, or else I'm just going to go to sleep in the middle of the road," I threatened, and Soren smirked. "What makes you so sure we'd drag you along? For all you know, we could just leave you behind," Soren said, and I glowered at him.

"You wouldn't dare," I said slowly, and Soren's smirk widened. "Try me," he said, taking a step forward.

"As much as I want to watch you two flirting and all that, I'm really tired, and you all know how I get when I'm sleep deprived. So get a move on," Diana cut in, and I jumped away, blushing furiously.

Even though Soren and I both knew we liked each other, we were still both too shy to actually do something, and had been just skirting around each other, much to Diana's frustration.

"Fine, fine, no need to be cranky," Soren muttered, and Diana huffed. "I am _not_ cranky."

When we all looked at her incredulously, Diana groaned. "I'm mildly annoyed," she modified, and we just stared at her. She sighed, rolling her eyes. "Okay, fine, I'm really, _really_ irritated right now. Now can we just find some place to freaking sleep?" She snapped, and I grinned.

"Sure," we all said in unison.

* * *

><p><strong>This was one of the longest chapters I've ever written. And I'm proud of that!<strong>

**Did you know that the thing with Alex and Cayenne peppers actually was something that happened to me? Well, it wasn't Cayenne, but just hot sauce in a hamburger. My friend had a good laugh, and now I don't even want to eat at KFC. My friends keep saying that for a Korean, I sure can't eat any type of spicy food, much less kimchi.**

**I was a little worried, but now it seems that TIQ is slowly gaining momentum! More fun stuff ahead! And more fun stuff= cliffhangers/fluff/angst! **

**Such lovely stuff! And remember to follow/favorite if you want to keep track of my updates, which are random at best!**

**Review count is 13!**

**{Replies to Reviews}**

**Chouxes(x2)- Well, now you know! Did you like this chapter? It took me a long time to write out the fight scenes, because I seriously suck at them. And did you know that in all of HoO and PJO, it's actually hard to find a proper, full length fight scene? What was your favorite moment in this chapter?**

**randomer11(x2)- Congrats for getting the ghost part right! I was really hard-pressed to find unpredictable monsters, because seriously, dracanae, the Minotaur, and hellhounds get boring if you use them too much. And whoa! Hold on the knife! *snatches knife and gives it to Lily* I hope the knife was Celestial Bronze, 'cause she already has a silver one!  
>P.S, I added you to the United Nations thing, but can you tell me your country, too?<br>P.P.S, aren't you going to follow/favorite this story? How are you going to keep track if you don't?**

**FictionalSalvation- I agree. Dolls are way creepy... but I hate mirrors even more. I keep on thinking that I'll see a doll staring right at me through the mirror, which is ridiculous considering the fact that I don't even have dolls in my room. And what? No! My Anubis! *wails* ...But I agree with you on the fact that he definitely doesn't hurt to look at. He's adorable! And as for my new O.C, you'll just have to wait! *evil cackle***

**The Book-Crazy Otaku Fangirl- Wow, a new reviewer! Thank you for loving my series so much, and I'll try my best to keep you satisfied with my creativity! But beware, everybody says that I'm an evil writer with no compassion who loves to write cliffhangers to torture her readers. Pssh, nah...*flinches from glares*... okay, okay, maybe I am. Anyway, I hope to see your reviews on the next chapter, and pretty please with a cherry on top, follow/favorite this story!**

**R&R!**

**~~XxThalicoRULZxX**


	4. Alex: Athenian Logic

**Dedicated to my new reviewers, DaughterOfDeathAndLighting1 and The Book-Crazy Otaku Fangirl!**

* * *

><p><em>Well I guess it's time for me<em>  
><em>Tell me what I'm left to believe in?<em>  
><em>'Cause I don't know the concept of the pain<em>  
><em>I don't want the fate I'm just losing<em>  
><em>I can't prove it,<em>  
><em>Watch me bleed!<em>

_-Screaming Bloody Murder, Sum 41_

*Alex's POV*

"Diana, Diana!" I shook my girlfriend, but her eyes remained closed as she blindly clawed at her sheets, still choking out disjointed sentences. It was hard to understand at best, but the little I heard make chills run down my spine.

'Get back!', and 'Trap' were one of the few phrases she kept muttering. "Diana, wake up," I begged, shaking her by the shoulders again as she thrashed about in her nightmare.

Behind me, Soren was curled up in a chair as he clutched his head, trying to fight against the sudden dizzy spell he had the moment he woke up, which was also coincidentally the moment Lily woke me up because she woke up because of Diana.

Sometimes, as much as I find their mind link really cool and useful, these are the times I wished that Diana was just a normal person, heck, just a normal demigod without the psychic link and stuff. Then again, no demigod was 'normal'.

"I...I'm s-sorry..." Diana mumbled, the tension in her hands suddenly relaxing as if she had let something go. "Diana?" I asked softly, pressing a hand against her forehead, but her skin was cool as usual.

"You!" Diana suddenly shrieked, bolting straight up as her eyes flew open, nearly hitting me as I jerked back just in time.

"Me what?" I found myself asking, and Diana looked at me blankly, before recognition lit her eyes. "Oh, nothing. Not you," Diana said, her eyes still wide as her body processed the overdose of adrenaline running through her veins. She took in a shaky breath, before reaching out to grab my hand tightly, as if I would disappear if she didn't hold me.

"Are you okay?" I asked, and Diana nodded. Soren groaned as he stirred to life behind us, and Diana flinched, her fingernails poking my hand as her grip tightened. Unfortunately, it reminded me of _my_ own dream, and I shook my head once to clear my head of the thoughts.

"Just dandy," Soren said tiredly, opening his dark blue eyes to stare dully at us. He drank a glass of water Lily handed to him, and Lily glanced at me at the same time, the expression on her face mirroring mine. What was their dream?

"I'll tell you later, but not now," Diana whispered, seeing our questioning gazes, and Lily nodded once before she turned to Soren.

"Get some sleep, you look like you need it." She said firmly, and Soren looked at her wearily before stumbling over to the couch, where he fell asleep in mere seconds, his entire body relaxing as the tension left his muscles.

Lily handed Diana a fresh glass of water, smiling reassuringly. "Drink this, it'll help a bit," she said, and Diana sighed before taking it, nearly spilling it because her hands were trembling slightly. I reached out to steady her, and Diana smiled weakly, before draining it quickly and placing it on the bed stand beside her.

"I'm fine, Rex. No need to look at me like I'm a terminal patient," Diana attempted, but I narrowed my eyes. No way in Hades was she all right, especially on a quest when demigod nightmares just get all the more real. And the worst part was, most of them came true.

I think Diana would have just sat there all night, staring at the blankets of the cheap motel we were residing temporarily at -the front desk person had raised his eyes skeptically, but he had shut up when we gave him the money- until the sun rose. "Go to sleep, Di," I said, and Diana gave me a strange look like, _You seriously expect me to go back to sleep after I'd had a nightmare?_

"_You_ sleep," Diana attempted, pushing me half-heartedly in the general direction of the door, which was open due to Soren and mine's nighttime trip to the girls' room.

"And leave you here to stare at the ceiling? Nice try, Di, but I'm not leaving until you're asleep," I said firmly, and Diana sighed.

"I'm going to sleep now, but wake me up if anything happens, okay?" Lily murmured sleepily as she flopped down on her own bed across from Diana's and twisted in her position to face Soren on the couch before she finally closed her eyes, her breathing getting deeper in moments.

Diana and I were left as the only ones awake, listening to the soft sounds of the other two's breathing, and the dull muted sounds of the outside, altogether creating a peaceful atmosphere.

Diana fingered her silver bracelet, letting go of my hand, which she always kept on no matter the situation unless she showered, and I silently watched the charms tinkle and gleam in the faint moonlight that filtered in through the window. Her charm bracelet was almost complete, which meant that soon, I'd have to think of a different present for her someday.

For us, it was kind of like a personal version of the camp beads, with each charm representing a special day in our lives, usually birthdays and holidays.

My legs got tired from standing beside her bed, so I sat down on the edge, twisting around so that I could see Diana look at me stubbornly with her arms crossed, neither of us ready to give in.

"We have a long day tomorrow -today, and you need to be fully awake to keep yourself alive," I chided, but Diana narrowed her eyes rather pointedly at me. "Ditto, Rex," she muttered, glaring at me, her mouth set into a stubborn pout.

In the dark, her dark brown eye was hard to see, so it was like looking at a person with only one bright blue eye, which was both creepy and cool at the same time.

I sighed as I absently started tapping the wrist strap of my watch in a beat to a song that kept replaying in my head, a kind of bad habit I picked up from playing the drums once as a hobby. A bad habit, 'cause sometimes I would accidentally end up touching the clock face, which had resulted in an awkward situation when I would nearly spear the kid in front of me.

"Stop that," Diana said irritably as she shifted her position so she was no longer upright. Startled, I glanced at her, and saw that her eyes were blinking sleepily, even as she was fighting to keep awake. "Why?" I asked.

"Because it's making me fall asleep," Diana said. I grinned to myself, storing this little tidbit of information for later use. Maybe this bad habit wasn't bad as I thought. I kept up the tapping, and silently watched as Diana's eyes fluttered shut at last, relaxing slightly.

I waited for a few minutes to make sure she was really sleeping, and slowly got up to head over to a couple of chairs. What? Diana was here, Lily was here, and even Soren was here. No way would I leave them.

"Stay," Diana suddenly mumbled, her hand shooting out to clamp on my wrist, and I nearly jumped out of my skin. I slowly moved back to where I was originally, and watched Diana open her eyes blearily to look at me.

"Soren will kill me," I said, and Diana's mouth turned down. "I don't care," she made out, her words slightly slurred from tiredness.

When I tried to move, her grip got tighter until I think she cut off the circulation in my wrist, so I sighed and gave in, resigning myself to face her brother's wrath in the morning. The things I do for her...

"Fine. But if Soren _does_ kill me, which is actually possible, I'm coming back to haunt you as a _lemure_," I warned, and Diana gave a small smile. "Not funny," she mumbled as she curled up in a more comfortable position, hugging one of my arms like a teddy bear.

* * *

><p>"So," Diana chirped brightly, and we all turned around to stare at her.<p>

Other from the faint dark circles under her eyes, there was no evidence of the last night's incident, as did all of us. I winced, remembering Soren's reaction after he had woken up the next morning to see us.

If I had once said Diana's glares were scary, then Soren's dark glares were like Death. If looks were weapons, Diana's would be an arrow, equally as piercing, and Soren's would be death ray guns, not that those were invented, thankfully.

That, coupled with a few curses and threats spat out through clenched teeth, was more than enough to wake me up faster than Dad could swim. And for people who doesn't know, that's pretty fast.

"Can we go to the gift shop?" Diana asked, and Soren and I exchanged disbelieving looks while Lily looked curious. "Why not?" Lily said before any of us could argue with her, and Soren rolled his eyes exasperatedly.

One thing everybody should know about Diana, was that while she hated shopping in general, she absolutely _loved_ anything to do with aeronautics and spacecrafts, which was kind of understandable. And thus, for her, the Air and Space Museum was a paradise on Earth.

"Come on, it's not like the gift shop will kill you! And who knows, we might figure out some part of the prophecy there," Diana persuaded, and I swear I saw Soren's mouth twitch slightly upwards as Lily gave him the same look Diana was giving me. Damn freaking Bambi eyes - That is, if Bambi had heterochromia iridum and wore liquid eyeliner.

"Fine," Soren sighed, and Diana and Lily cheered, already dragging us to one of the most avoided places on Earth for males -shops.

As the girls oohed and aahed over various things, mostly Diana explaining this and that to Lily who looked fascinated, I leaned against a wall, looking out the window for any suspicious things that looked out of the ordinary.

Soren had disappeared to somewhere, but judging from the fact that Diana was relaxed, he was probably still somewhere in here, out of sight.

As I stood there, a line from the prophecy, the one that had been bothering me for some time, echoed again in my head.

_Death by the hand of one closest to heart._

Even though I wished that this had a double meaning, a metaphor, the meaning was still clear as day. There would be a death, and it will be by the person we loved most.

I couldn't imagine Lily ever killing somebody in cold blood, much less someone she loved, and I certainly as Hades hoped Diana wasn't going to kill me, though if it meant the others would be safe, then I would give myself up gladly. And I would never hurt Diana.

But, Soren was another case, as much as I hated to admit it, and Diana and Lily would kill me for even doubting him. But my Athenian logic whispered, _You saw how easily he was effected by Calliope's spells. How hard would it be to influence him for evil?_

'Shut up,' I told it as I shook my head. Sometimes I really hated the cold, direct, and infallible logic that was hardwired into my brain because of my Athena roots. Mom says that with time, I would get used to it, but as for now, I tried to ignore it the best I could.

_Wisdom is hard to face because it cannot be countered. Can _you_ face the hard truth?_ I gritted my teeth. Good thing for me that I also have Dad's nature as well; the tendency to _not_ follow the rules. I'm going to prove it that wisdom is not always true, especially when we're demigods. The same rules usually don't apply to us, and when they do, we have a habit of breaking them.

'I can, because it isn't the truth.' I countered. Great, now I was talking to myself. I waited for a response, but there was only silence in my head.

Then I happened to look up, and groaned. "Diana," I called out just as she neared me. "What?" She said, turning to face me just as Lily rounded the corner.

"Guess what? The gift shop _can_ kill you," Soren said dryly, reappearing just as Lily ran back to us, her eyes wide. "Guys, there's a-"

Then the screams started, throwing the entire place into mass chaos.

* * *

><p><strong>You aren't going to kill me because of that cliffhanger, are you? *chuckles nervously*<strong>

**So, what do you think? Did you like the Dialex moment? (To everybody who didn't understand Soren's reaction, Diana made Alex stay, and they ended up spooning. Got it?)**

**Do you think Alex's logic was right to doubt Soren? Who do _you_ think is the subject of that particular line?**

**Anyway, thank you for the reviews, even if they didn't meet the review count! Who cares?**

**And there's a poll on my profile, so vote if you want! (I made it because I was bored, and curious.)**

**Review count is 15!**

**{Replies to Reviews}**

**randomer11- It's okay, and I put up your country! And something must be wrong with either your's or my phone/computer, because your favoriting/following didn't register. Oh well, I'll keep you updated by PM! Your death threats are getting more and more subtle by the day... I'm scared!**

**FictionalSalvation- Yeah, well, so do I! That's why my friends have such a hard time deciding what to eat when we're hanging out, 'cause 75 percent of all edible foods in Korea have something to do with peppers and spiciness. Damn it.. And I seriously love _your_ music tastes, too! And no! Not my other O.C! Losing Anubis is already heartbreaking enough! You get a virtual snow tiger! (Which is kind of ironic considering the fact that I have a stuffed snow tiger)**

**DaughterOfDeathAndLightning1- Wow, a new reviewer! Great! And everybody seems to be asking that question... Leiren will happen, but you'll just have to wait! It took five freaking books for Percabeth, 2 BBG books for Dialex, so Leiren will take 2, too!**

**R&R if you want more chapters!**

**~~XxThalicoRULZxX**


	5. Diana: Facing Fears

**Dedicated to Chouxes because I realized that I wanted to give her credit for reviewing to each and every of my chapters faithfully!**

**Also dedicated to FictionalSalvation because... well, she will know!**

* * *

><p><em>Fight for all you know<em>  
><em>When your back's against the wall<em>  
><em>Stand against the liars<em>  
><em>Stronger than before<em>  
><em>When your life becomes a war<em>  
><em>Set the world on fire<em>

_-Set The World On Fire, Black Veil Brides_

*Diana's POV*

"Incoming!"

Alex and I ducked at the same time, barely missing a chunk of cement as it sailed over our heads, nearly taking out Soren who sidestepped just in time.

A huge roar rang across the entire place, ringing in my ears as I blinked the dust out of my eyes.

We ran out of the gift shop to see the museum as a mess of confusion and panic. Mortals were screaming and running for the exits and in the process actually hindering themselves from escaping, and in the center of them all, was the Nemean Lion.

Alex muttered something in Ancient Greek under his breath, and while I missed most of it, I had a feeling that it wasn't very complimentary towards lions in general.

"Seriously, do monsters have to regenerate in the same place?" Alex grumbled as we crouched behind a fallen plane, Soren and Lily beside us. I peeped over the wing of the plane to see what Alex had been talking about, and saw... adorable kittens.

No, I'm not joking. There were two fluffy balls of cuteness and mews a little distance away from the Lion, and I swear one of them gave a tiny yawn, which made my insides melt a little. They were a tortoiseshell and tabby, respectively.

"Why? They're only-" Lily stopped speaking when one of the kittens stretched leisurely, and its form flickered, revealing a ghostly skeleton for an instant, and she gasped. Where had I heard of them before? Oh, right. Mom had told me of the little kitties.

"Monsters," Soren finished for me, his black sword already out and grasped tightly in his hand as he looked over one more time.

Then our conversation officially ended when the skeleton-kitties -hey, I don't know if they even have a name for their species- looked straight in our direction, and snarled as it morphed into a translucent skeletal saber-toothed tiger, and the other copied it. Now we had three cats glaring in our direction, ready to kill.

"Well? Go!" Lily shouted as we ran for them, taking off in slightly different directions. But there were still mortals around who hadn't gotten out, so we had to be careful with our powers, or we would be hunted until doomsday. And I was pretty sure even Lily couldn't use the Mist on more than a dozen mortals, even with Soren helping.

I ran straight towards the Nemean Lion -which I will abbreviate to just Lion- while Soren went for the tigers, Lily jumping up and clambering up the airplane to balance precariously on its top, her bow and arrows out as she nocked them with practiced ease.

The Lion roared as I approached, and I hit the ground just as it leaped towards me, and it went sailing over my head. I slashed upwards with my spear, nearly blinding myself as sparks erupted with a screeching sound of metal on metal as it glanced off.

"Lily, get the mortals _out!_" Alex shouted, and Lily nodded once before jumping up and over the plane wreckage, running for the screaming mortals as she herded them out the exits.

The Lion skidded clumsily, and Alex barely managed to stop himself from behind swatted by its flailing paws as he backed up from the tiger's attacks, his bronze sword flashing in the light as he stabbed and hacked at the bony skeleton swiping at him.

It growled, baring its too-long fangs, but Alex ducked under its slashing claws as he stabbed it directly in the chest, and it screeched loudly before exploding into yellow dust.

Soren was fending off the second tiger pretty well on his own, so I turned around and jumped, swinging my spear to clash against the Lion's face as it tried to snap at me, and another burst of sparks came as the monster jumped back, snarling.

I did a quick check around me to see if there were any mortals, but all of them, or at least that I could see, had escaped, but you could never know. My distraction nearly got me killed as the Lion swung a huge paw at me, but Lily shot an arrow into its eye at the last second, so it roared, giving me time to roll out of harm's way.

"You okay?" Alex gasped out as he ran towards me straightaway, and I nodded curtly once as we returned our attention to the Lion who had been distracted by the arrows raining down all around us. It snarled again, lunging for Soren just as he sliced the head off the second tiger.

"Soren!" Lily screamed at the same time Soren turned around, and he suddenly disappeared, reappearing seconds later in the shadow of the Lion, making it confused as it spun around trying to find its prey.

"Hey, kitty!" I yelled to get its attention, and the Lion focused on us, its muzzle wrinkled into an expression of loathing as the muscles in its legs tensed. The cat was going to pounce.

Alex and I jumped in opposite directions as it charged, crashing into a mobile hanging from the ceiling when it missed, and shards ricocheted everywhere, and a few sliced my cheek.

Pain flashed through the mind link, and I met Soren's eyes from my right as he held his sword arm with his uninjured hand, blood streaming out through the space between his fingers. His sword was still in his hand, but it was loose.

'_Damn it,'_ Soren cursed as he switched the sword from his left to his right hand, leaving the shard sticking out of his arm like a huge dart. Lily clambered up on a spacecraft model hanging from the roof as she tried to get a better shot, her silver arrows flashing in the air like rays of moonlight.

Then a cry of fear rang out as I started to run towards the Lion, and it startled me, nearly sending me crashing into another pile of bashed up displays.

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Alex dart towards the Lion, and it turned towards him, baring its teeth menacingly. The cries grew louder, and I realized what had caught both of their attention; a young mortal girl was trembling as she stood frozen in the center of them.

_'Great. Alex's going to hurt himself playing the hero again,'_ Soren sighed as I leaped forward, flinging my spear with as much force as I could dredge up, and the spear glanced off the back of the monster's head with a shower of sparks, distracting it enough for Alex to get to the girl and scoop her up, almost instantly starting to run towards the nearest exit.

The Lion started to run towards them again, but Lily's arrow nicked it in the inside of its ear, and it twisted around, a low growl rumbling in its chest.

Faster than I expected, it jumped forwards, and onto the plane, where it slashed with its claws, sending the spacecraft model and Lily crashing down with a dust cloud.

"No!" Soren cried out, momentarily forgetting his wound as he started to go towards her, where the Lion whirled around and batted at him roughly, Soren barely managing to deflect its nasty claws as it raked across the Stygian Iron blade.

But, as with all people holding on to something with their other hand, Soren's grip on his sword was weak, and the resulting shock of the attack sent it clattering to the ground. '_Soren!'_ I said, alarmed, as I started to go towards them.

What was taking Alex so long?

My question as answered almost immediately when a blur shot out of nowhere, ramming into Soren who was pushed aside just as the Lion swung its heavy paw again, slamming the person into the wall directly beside the monster.

"_Alex!_"

The cry came out of my mouth as I started to run faster, hoping to get there before the Lion did, but even with my Hunter speed, I was still too far away.

_And face the fears, one and all_. For some reason, this particular line of the prophecy rang in my head, sending chills through my blood. One and all... I had the feeling that it hadn't been talking _only_ about phobias.

Alex slumped over on the ground, obviously dazed as the monster bared its teeth, and attacked.

I didn't expect what happened next. I don't think Soren did, either.

The Lion froze, and suddenly, it started shaking its head frantically as it backed up, tail thrashing wildly as choked whimpers and weak snarls erupted from its maw.

Which had been forced open by a familiar Celestial bronze sword, Tsunami.

Alex had somehow managed to fit his entire sword inside the creature's mouth vertically, and now its mouth as stretched open wide as it whimpered and tried to claw it out of his mouth, but only managed to dig the sword tip in deeper.

Unfortunately, Alex was unconscious, and therefore he couldn't do anything now. I concentrated, feeling my spear disappear, and a weight appeared on my back as my bow and quiver materialized.

I remembered its weakness now, and I cursed myself internally for even forgetting it. Soren was dragging Alex to a relatively more safer place, despite the constant radiating pain in his arm.

'_Get Lily, too, while you're at it,'_ I reminded Soren as I fit the arrow in its place between my fingers, glancing down the shaft of the arrow like I had done so many times before.

_'I don't need reminding,'_ Soren whispered painfully as he concentrated on ignoring the burning in his arm and not losing his grip on Alex, making his way to where Lily had crashed. Worry and anxiety was practically oozing out of him as he started to think about why Lily hadn't resurfaced.

Stretching the bowstring taut, I let go, and watched the silver arrow fly with unerring accuracy, straight towards the Lion's mouth.

But the monster faced away at the last moment, causing it to glance off harmlessly on its fur. Still whimpering in pain, its attempts to get the sword out resulted in its paws missing Soren and Alex by mere inches, sending panic rushing through me.

As I pulled out another arrow from my quiver, something whistled through the air with incredible speed, and a javelin appeared out of nowhere to pierce straight into its mouth.

The Nemean Lion roared and thrashed wildly, and fell on its side. Then it became motionless.

But where did the javelin come from? '_Who did that?'_ Soren asked, and I said, _'My guess is good as yours.'_

Our conversation was interrupted by a stranger dropping down from above, taking the momentum out of his fall by somersaulting and landed on his feet.

We stared at each other for a few seconds, electric blue and black to hazel eyes, when Soren broke the silence.

"Who the Hades _are_ you?"

The newcomer raised an eyebrow at Soren, who was pressing his hand against his wounded arm as Alex stirred weakly on the ground, blinking open his sea-green eyes. Behind them, I could see Lily as Silver, popping her head out of the wreckage with her ears pricked and amber eyes focused on us.

For a moment, I thought I saw his hazel eyes zero on Alex and Soren, but he looked at me again, a smirk on his face.

"Me?" He asked, walking over to retrieve his javelin, "I'm Mason, son of Ares,"

* * *

><p><strong>Okay, this fight scene is somewhere between majorly crappy to somewhat okay. Certainly not the perfect scene I had in mind, but, well, it didn't suck.<strong>

**What do you think of this new development? And here's a minor spoiler: He won't be the last!**

**On a completely different topic, what do you think are Dialex and Leiren theme songs? I'm thinking of Thunder by Boys Like Girls for Dialex, but I have no ideas for Leiren! **

**Give me suggestions if you have any for Leiren! Oh, and if you have any suggestions for Dialex, too, please tell me!**

**P.S. Everybody seems to be confused by my use of the word 'spooning' in the last chapter. Well, if you're curious, just Google it! And okay, it's something like cuddling.**

**And wow, I got a _lot_ of reviews! Thanks, everybody!**

**Review count is 23!**

**{Replies to Reviews}**

**MeganAnnabethJackson(x2)- You don't have to apologize, everybody forgets! And it's not like it's the end of the world if you forget to review.. though it might feel that way if you really want to read the next chapter and I'm not posting it. I never expected the last chapter to end in a cliffhanger, but I guess it did!  
>Yeah, if you're going to be a fangirl of my stories, you'd better toughen up your heart, because it's going to go through torture, evil writer style!<strong>

**randomer11- Whoa girl! *backs away* I guess between shot or stabbed... I'd pick shot 'cause it's way faster. Unless... you plan on torturing me like I do to you? Now _that's_ an evil thought! I corrupted you! I must prepare myself for death and write my wills, because I have _many_**** more cliffhangers!  
>*screams and runs away from person with knife I'm guessing is you* *Also guessing you picked the 'stab' option on purpose just to spite me*<strong>

**The Book-Crazy Otaku Fangirl- Yep, I'm _sure_ I'm not RR! I mean, unless Uncle Rick is a girl, 5'2", Korean, and antisocial. But hey, you never know! *laughs evilly* Mwahahahahaha *cough* ha *chokes on air* ha ha... Okay, I'm officially going crazy, but it's nothing new, right?  
>P.S. I hope the process of writing your story is going great! I wish you luck!<strong>

**FictionalSalvation- NO! Not my precious O.C! *snarls defensively while holding up Raven* But I can't protect Nico from fangirls 'cause he isn't mine... *whimpers* And to have the complete death-y set, you're still missing Soren and Seth, who I will protect until my last breath!... which seems like it will be soon because randomer11 is currently planning out my assassination.  
>And you noticed the BVB IV avatar? Great! And yeah, you just complimented me, I think. I didn't miss the pun of Heart of Fire, by the way! What's your favorite song in their album?<strong>

**Chouxes(x2)- Thanks, I really needed the ego boost. Which I will promptly use to write more battle scenes because I feel like it! Do you like the dedication? Thank you _so_ much for the constant reviews!  
>And yes, I'm serious! I LOVE cliffhangers, especially heart-wrenching ones that will leave your heart and mind in shambles! Of course, it may also lead to my death in the near future, because I seem to have bloodthirsty readers out for my blood... So if I disappear from Fanfiction without any explanation whatsoever, you know who's the culprit! <strong>

**R&R!**

**~~XxThalicoRULZxX (a.k.a apparently an 'evil writer')**


	6. Soren: Demigod Rivalry

**Dedicated to The Book-Crazy Otaku Fangirl and FictionalSalvation for their Leiren song suggestions!**

**Also dedicated to Guest (a.k.a Luisa)! A new face, hooray!**

* * *

><p><em>Our days are numbered in the world of fools<em>  
><em>We feel the hunger and follow no one's rules<em>  
><em>Everybody wants eternal life and nobody can seem to get it right, oh,<em>  
><em>Our days are numbered and you're no fool, nobody's fool<em>

_-Days Are Numbered, Black Veil Brides_

*Soren's POV*

If I had to measure the amount of tension in the air between a scale of 1 to 10, I would guess it to be about... 15. No kidding.

Let me give an example of a situation just 5 minutes ago.

* * *

><p>"Honestly, can't I go on a field trip with my school and pretend to be a normal person for once without a monster attacking me?" Mason sighed as we lounged around on different places in the otherwise abandoned playground, probably because the kids were scared of 'the scary teenagers'.<p>

"The monster attacked _us,_ not you. Don't be so full of yourself," Alex muttered under his breath as he sat on the bottom bars of the jungle gym, Diana perched on the very top as she looked down at us.

I was sitting on the ground beside the swing set on my right -the jungle gym being on my left, and Lily was swinging idly back and forth on the swings, and Mason was sprawled out on the bench in front of us.

"That coming from the person who couldn't even save himself," Mason retorted, and Alex stiffened, his hands clenching around the metal bars.

"Have you forgotten that you only popped in at the last minute? Way to go on actually participating," Alex said sourly as he rolled his eyes.

_'What's the big deal?'_ Diana asked me confusedly, and I shrugged, returning my attention to the two of them. _'I don't know,'_

_'Really? Isn't this something like a alpha male thing all boys have when they feel threatened? Shouldn't you know, being a male and all?'_ Diana pointed out, and I sighed, leaning back on the steel poles that supported the swing set.

_'What does Alex have to feel threatened by?'_ I asked, and Diana paused. _'Actually, I don't know.'_

"Hey, guys, we just barely got out. No need to call attention to ourselves again," Lily piped up, and both of them stared at her.

"She's right, Jackson. No need to fight over something that your Athena wisdom obviously knows the answer to, that is, if you have any," Mason sneered, and Alex closed his eyes, sucking in a deep breath.

"I've heard that Ares has strength, but that's all he has. Even strength has to bow down to wisdom sometimes," Alex said without opening his eyes, still focusing on calming his breathing down. From above, I could feel Diana's anxiety spike, but she remained still.

"Yeah, and that's _sometimes_. The rest of the time, Ares wins." Mason said as he twirled the thick metal cylinder he had in his hands, which could morph to his Imperial Gold javelin we had seen earlier. And yes, I said Imperial Gold.

During the first hour of escaping from the museum and healing ourselves, Mason had told us his story, something about his being a Greek demigod but his family having been Romans.

"Try telling your cabinmates that. I'd love to see the face when I beat your siblings," Alex shot back, still without opening his eyes for some reason.

The rest of us, Diana, Lily, and I, had given up on trying to intervene, and were now watching the show in front of us.

"That's only because of who your _daddy_ is, Jackson. The greatest swordsman in the century? Huh, didn't Luke beat him?" Mason taunted, and I could sense Lily starting to regret ever suggesting on bringing him along.

"Are you really comparing Luke, who had been training since he was twelve, to my dad, who'd been barely working with a sword for a month?" Alex said calmly, getting up from his position on the jungle gym.

Mason looked at loss for a comeback, so he just scowled and looked away, mumbling something under his breath I didn't catch.

But Alex suddenly walked over to Mason so he was barely a foot away, and said, "Did you just say what I thought I heard you say?"

Mason was either an idiot or a suicidal freak of nature, because he stood up as well, a smirk plastered onto his features. "I believe I just did, Jackson," he said, and that's when Alex snapped.

His grey eyes flashing dangerously, Alex moved to punch Mason, but Diana jumped down, slamming hard into both of them, forcing them to step away from each other.

"Stop!" Diana shouted, pushing the two further apart, and Mason just smirked at seeing Alex's fury, and I walked over to pull Mason away while Lily ran to help Diana restrain her boyfriend.

_'I get it. Soren, what side was Ares on?'_ Diana questioned me, and it took me a moment to realize what she was trying to tell me. _'I think Ares was on the Trojan side... and both Athena and Poseidon were on the Greek's.'_ I said, and Diana nodded, confirming my thoughts.

"Alex, calm down, it's just the gods' influence!" Diana said, and Alex struggled for a bit before he just stopped, the anger leaving his sea-green eyes as realization dawned on him.

* * *

><p>Yeah. So we had to make it a point to keep Mason and Alex as far apart as possible, which was nearly impossible considering the fact that Mason kept sticking around Diana, constantly talking about weapons and things.<p>

"Soren? Soren!"

Lily's voice snapped me out of my thoughts as I looked at her, and she sighed, rolling her eyes, before smiling, a sight that never failed to make my own self smile, albeit a half-smile.

"What?" I said confusedly, and Lily gestured to Diana, who was curiously looking at a piece of paper in her hand, one that she didn't have a second ago.

"Look at what I found! It was in the Nemean Lion bomber jacket!" Diana said, gesturing to the jacket she was wearing just now, a spoil of war from our earlier fight with the monster.

"What does it say?" Mason asked, and Diana peered at the paper, her eyebrows scrunched in concentration. "It says... I don't know, really."

Alex snickered, and I rolled my eyes. "It's written in English, and you all know I'm dyslexic!" Diana protested at seeing our exasperated expressions, and Lily laughed.

"Well, good thing for you that _I'm_ not," Alex said, plucking the paper out of Diana's hands easily.

"What does it say?" Lily asked again, and Alex read off, "L.C. Time stands still."

Time standing still, why does that sound familiar? '_Because our dad spent sixty years in there, dummy,'_ Diana said matter-of-factly.

"The Lotus Casino," Diana and I spoke out at the same time, making Lily jump and Mason look at us weirdly. "That was creepy," he commented, and Alex rolled his eyes.

"Get used to it, they do it all the time. They're twins," Alex said, and Mason frowned. "They don't look alike," he pointed out, and Diana sighed.

"Just because we don't look alike doesn't mean we can't be twins," she said, and Mason raised his eyebrows, but nodded.

"Does the word 'fraternal twins' explain everything?" I put in, and Mason just shrugged, keeping on walking.

All of us were so absorbed in our conversation that Lily nearly ended up walking straight through an Iris Message. As it was, Lily yelped in surprise and jumped backwards, crashing straight into me, because I had been walking behind her.

"Sorry! Are you okay?" Lily said worriedly, and I muttered a "I'm fine," while wincing slightly. Let's just say that Lily's elbows are a weapon all on their own.

"Um, over here?" A familiar voice cut in, and I looked up to see Seth peering at us from the IM. Diana gasped, and I was puzzled for a moment before I realized that Seth had a black eye, and Anubis beside him didn't look any better. Alyssa was beside them, her ice blue eyes wide with panic.

"Where's Rowan?" Lily questioned, and Anubis winced, looking at Seth whose eyes were a hard dark brown.

"She didn't want to hang out with the 'troublemakers' anymore," Seth spat out, and Alex winced in sympathy. I saw Mason was standing a little bit away, out of sight of the IM, but dismissed it as awkwardness, seeing that Mason wasn't exactly on friendly terms with Seth and since Hunter was his half-brother.

"What's wrong? Why are you hurt?" Diana said worriedly, and Seth sighed, and I could see Anubis looking anxiously behind them, as if they were hiding from something.

"Andrea's missing!" Alyssa suddenly burst out, her eyes filling up with tears. "Missing?" Lily echoed, worry claiming her face, and Alyssa nodded, struggling to keep her tears in.

"One day, I woke up and she was just _gone_! No clues, no signs of anything! And Jade and I can't even ask around because we might cause a fight!" Her voice rose, becoming more and more hysterical.

"Diana, I don't know why you're on a quest, but please, can you hurry? The camp's gone weird," Seth added, though I noticed that he avoided Diana's question, and Diana's eyes went round. "What's happening?" Alex asked urgently, his eyes intense in concentration.

"They've taken sides, and even the minor gods have split. Chiron says that we have about ten days before everything breaks out, and he can't stop it," Anubis said, and Seth was about to say something, when Anubis tensed.

"They're coming!" He hissed in a low voice, and Seth's eyes widened, before he said quickly, "Hurry!" he said, before he slashed his hand through the IM, dissipating it.

We stood there in silence for a few moments, before Mason said, "So, we only have ten days? That sucks,"

"Yep, that sums it up," Lily agreed, and Alex looked equally as dismayed as Diana, whose eyes were clouded with worry and concern.

"Then we have to find a way to get to Lotus Casino as fast as possible, and walking's not going to cut it," Alex said, deep in thought. "How about flying?" Lily suggested, and Alex went pale, while Diana just stared at Lily.

"What the-" "We can't, Lily. Alex equals Poseidon legacy, and he's inherited both the fear and the banning of flying from Percy," I explained, and Lily winced, glancing apologetically at Alex who looked as if he was getting airsick just thinking about it.

"Driving?" Mason said, and Alex shook his head, regaining his composure. "It takes 1 day and 15 hours just to get there, and that's when we drive nonstop. Taking that into consideration along with the fact that I'm pretty sure that Lotus Casino isn't where the Golden Apple is, just a place we have to go through, we need something faster than a car,"

Mason huffed, crossing his arms as he muttered under his breath, "If it wasn't for Jackson, we'd probably just go there by plane and get it over with."

"So sorry for being of inconvenience, but since when was this _your_ quest? The last time I checked, _I_ was part of this quest, and _you_ were just a tagalong," Alex hissed defensively, and Mason started to stalk towards Alex menacingly, but Lily stepped in between them.

"Your arguing isn't going to help anything, so stop it!" She snapped, and Alex looked at her wide-eyed, before he just sighed, turning away to face me.

"Any ideas?" He asked, and I nodded immediately. _'What are you planni- You can't possibly be thinking of that!' _

_'It's faster than any ordinary means,' _I said.

_'But the distance isn't going to be easy. It's freaking 2,086 miles! It's basically across the country! What if you pass out? Don't you remember Dad telling us he nearly died when he was moving the Athena Parthenos?'_

_'That's my job. And that was basically halfway across the world. Besides, it's still better than any other plan. Better I get tired than have Alex die on a plane, right?' _Diana went quiet at that, looking angry but conflicted at the same time.

"So what's your plan?" Alex prompted me, obviously having noticed our silent exchange, and Mason just stood behind, a bored expression on his face.

I looked at Diana in the eye steadily. Lily studied me anxiously, probably trying to find out why we were so tense.

"We shadowtravel."

* * *

><p><strong>How do you feel about Mason? Hate? Dislike? Love? Like? Neutral?<strong>

**Like it or not, he's going to play a very important part in this story, so you'll have to put up with him for now!**

**Oooh, Alex has ****aviophobia (fear of flying)! **

**Do you think Soren's trying to take on more than he can handle? Or do you think Diana's too paranoid?**

**You'll have to find out in the next chapter (hehehe it's still a cliffie), and thank's for all the reviews!**

**Review count is 29/30!**

**{Replies to Reviews****}**

**The Book-Crazy Otaku Fangirl- Thanks for the music suggestion! Although Imagine Dragons aren't quite my cup of tea, I still like how the lyrics fit Soren! **

**MeganAnnabethJackson- Nice metaphor! Heart of stone and gold? Cool! I guess this chapter will determine whether you'll slit his throat or not!**

**randomer11- What? NO! But it's still better than poison...hehehe... Oh, no, now you're going to change your mind! I can just see you do that just to spite me!**

**FictionalSalvation- Seriously. Sum 41, Simple Plan. Need I say more? I _did_ think of Save You, but With Me is something I'd never thought about. But I still have to search the lyrics for Always Attract.  
>And HADES NO! No Mason pairings! ESPECIALLY with my O.C! You'll know later on, but really, it's a no-no. And I <em>mean<em> it! You'll agree with me soon.**

**Guest(a.k.a Luisa)- I've read all of your reviews on my other stories, and can I just say, THANK YOU? I really loved how you kept reviewing despite the fact that you were a guest, and therefore it would be hard for you to track my stories.**

**DaughterOfDeathAndLightning1- Yep, you do! And there's more surprises to come soon! And I hope your story writing is going smoothly!**

**Sorry, but I don't have time for long replies right now!**

**R&R!**

**~~XxThalicoRULZxX**


	7. Leila, Diana: Shadow Travel

**Dedicated to MeganAnnabethJackson because... well... I feel like it! It's her turn!**

* * *

><p><em> Break a mirror and ignore all my features<em>  
><em>The fate I'm facing. See what I could do without safety<em>  
><em>Make my palms bleed, do all asked of me<em>  
><em>With my hand over my heart<em>  
><em>-<em>  
><em>I wanna live selfless<em>  
><em>Instead of just floating by<em>  
><em>Living every day like its my last<em>  
><em>I can catch up on my sleep when I die<em>

_-Selfless, New Found Glory_

*Leila's POV*

"Alright, here's a suggestion. How about we travel at night? That way, it'll be easier than just shadowtraveling in broad daylight, and we have a less chance of being discovered if we somehow end up in a different place," I suggested, and Soren and Alex stopped arguing long enough to actually process my words.

"Good idea," Soren agreed, and Alex sighed, exchanging identical glances with Diana, and just nodded. Mason shrugged, not really caring.

"Then we should get something to eat in the meantime, you know, something to give us the energy to shadowtravel. No sense in going on an empty stomach," Diana said, and I got up from my temporary resting place on a street bench.

We all started to follow Alex, who had taken the lead, and Mason was just barely behind, and the tension between them alone was thick enough to cut through with my knife.

Mason sped up slightly, and Alex did, too, until they were going a good distance away from us. That is, until Diana suddenly decided to run up to them, pausing slightly to push Alex playfully before pouring on speed, going past them.

"Hey!" Alex cried out in surprise, stumbling slightly, before his pace picked up as he ran after Diana, who turned around to stick out a tongue at him childishly, grinning tauntingly.

"Sucks for you, Rex!"

"What the- Give me my watch back!"

"You'll have to catch me first!"

How Diana could take Alex's watch right out from his wrist and in front of his eyes, I will never know.

Diana shrieked with laughter as Alex chased her on the street. It was clear that Diana was faster -because of her Hunter genes- with more stamina, but I had to give Alex some credit for keeping up.

"They're the same as their eight-year-old selves," Soren muttered from behind me, and I spun around to see him looking at them with a small smile on his face. Mason just slowed down to a walk just a few feet in front of us, watching the two in front of us have a impromptu race.

Just then, Diana yelped as Alex started flat out running, succeeding in tackling her and knocking them down both to the ground rather painfully.

"I take that back. They're five-year-olds," Soren amended, and I laughed, seeing them tussle on the street before Diana popped up again, laughing hysterically as a mischievous smirk lit up her face.

"I heard that!" Diana shouted over her shoulder, and I waved to her. "And it's not like you were any different!"

I stared at Soren with wide eyes. Sure, I knew he had been happy and cheerful once, but I hadn't thought him as an energetic kid. "You were like them once?"

Soren looked up at the cloudless sky, a small, melancholy smile on his face. "Yeah," he admitted quietly, then his face darkened. "But not anymore,"

The finality in his voice made me stop the questions bubbling up inside me. It was a little upsetting that Soren was still unable to open up to me, when I had been ready to do anything for him. But I would be patient, and wait.

"Ow!"

"Did you just throw my watch in the fountain!? You'd better be glad it's waterproof!"

"Oh, Rex, considering what you are, I _knew_ it was waterproof!"

"Still!"

"Still what?"

"You should still-" Soren turned to look at me. "Come on, let's go and break them up before they start fighting for no reason at all," he suggested.

* * *

><p>*Diana's POV*<p>

Mock me if you must -and get pummeled into the next year for it- but honestly, shadowtraveling is definitely _not_ my forte. I may have it in my blood, but I guess being more of a legacy of Zeus than Hades repels it a bit.

"Everybody ready?" Soren said, and we all nodded, though it was kind of hard to see everyone in the otherwise dark night, even with my slightly better-than-thou night vision.

Soren, however, had no problem at all as he told us to link hands, reminding me of 'Ring Around the Rosie', which, according to Soren, had a much more sinister background than the young kids playing it made it to be. Something about the Black Plague?

"It'd be a big help if you were all concentrating on the same place," Soren explained, and I started to vaguely think of Las Vegas, and Lotus Casino, even though I had no idea where it was.

_'Thanks for being such a great help,'_ Soren said sarcastically, and I stuck out my tongue at him, and he just smirked. _'But really, all the help I'm going to need from you, is your energy, just a heads up,'_ Soren added, and I frowned slightly. What did he mean, he'd need my energy?

I soon figured it out soon enough when the air around us suddenly got impossibly darker, and much colder, too. There was an unsettling sensation of riding a rollercoaster without safety belts, and Soren's hand got colder and colder in my grasp.

And then the cold feeling snaked up my own wrist, and started up my arm until it felt like my heart was freezing, too. _'This is what I meant.'_ Soren said unnecessarily, and I gritted my teeth, trying to concentrate on not ripping my hand out of his hand.

It felt unnatural, or at least that's what my Zeus blood told me, and it felt like somebody -namely, Soren- was shoving an inch-thick icicle into my arm through my palm, and equally painful.

The icy feeling in my heart started to expand, making me shiver slightly, and my skin started to grow clammy, and I clenched my fingers around Alex's hand tighter, trying to draw some comfort and warmth from his familiar touch.

The wind swirled around us more swiftly, accompanied by eerie howling noises I wished that I could never hear again. Everything as too dark for me to see at all by now, and the wind was buffeting us so hard that if I hadn't been a legacy of Zeus, I would have been blown away.

Suddenly, the cold sensation shifted to something much more awful.

The sensation of Death.

For as long as I lived, I would never be able to accurately describe this.. this _absolutely __horrible_ feeling that made me want to get sick and run away from our linked hands.

My arm felt burning hot and icy cold at the same time, I could practically feel my energy draining, and there was the added discomfort of pins-and-needles, too. Now, multiply that feeling by eight.

That's how I felt. I silently promised myself that I would _never again_ shadowtravel, especially long distances.

I decided to focus on happy memories to turn my attention away, redirect it to more happy stuff.

_*Flashback*_

_"Re-e-e-e-x," Diana said, dragging out the word._

_The green eyed boy glanced up from his desk, which was overflowing with various blueprints, diagrams, and some complicated graphs that looked completely out of place on his desk, considering the fact that he was a ten-year-old. Or nearly, to be exact._

_"What, Di?" Alex asked, instinctively stowing away his 'projects' in a safer place, and Diana grinned mischievously, her blue and black eyes flashing with excitement._

_She didn't say anything, just motioned for him to come out of his room. Alex checked his clock, noting that it was nearly midnight, 12.a.m, and followed her out obligingly, confusion written all over his face. _

_He was wondering why Diana was in his house at this time of the night, but then again, she was Diana. His unpredictable, wild, cheerful, energetic, and mischievous best friend. He shouldn't question her, not unless he wanted her to bring over a spider like Soren continually threatens to do._

_Alex stifled a yelp when a blindfold was suddenly slipped over his eyes, and he struggled futilely for a moment before he gave up, resigning himself to whatever Diana was planning._

_"Just follow me," Diana said reassuringly, which wasn't that much reassuring, considering the fact that she was, well, Diana._

_But Alex decided to keep quiet and walked along obediently, her hand on the small of his back, guiding him to somewhere he wasn't allowed to see. _

_But even with his eyes covered, Alex could pretty much guess where his best friend was leading him. It was _his_ house, after all._

_He was being led to the living room, if going down the stairs precariously and being jerked to the left meant anything, although he hadn't had the faintest idea why. __It wasn't New Year's Day, Diana and Soren's birthday, nor any special holiday._

_Then they suddenly stopped moving, and Alex could feel Diana's fingers at the back of his head, ready to untie the blindfold at a moment's notice. But she didn't, which made Alex fidget nervously, his ADHD acting up. _

_"Five. Four. Three. Two... and one!" Diana chirped, whisking off the small length of cloth from his head, and Alex blinked once before he was assaulted by an explosion of colors and noise._

_"Happy birthday, Alex!" Everybody cheered, and Alex's eyes widened, taking in the sight of his entire family and the Di Angelos' as well, surrounding a table that was displayed proudly in the middle of the living room._

_The table was decorated lavishly with balloons, streamers, and presents. There was a large blue cake in the middle, with ten candles lighted and ready. __Alex opened and closed his mouth, gaping like a fish out of water as he stared and the people in front of him burst into the happy birthday song._

_Or at least, everybody but Diana and Soren were. With identical smirks on their faces, they chanted gleefully, "Happy Birthday to you/ __You live in a zoo / __You look like a dead fish / __and smell like one too!"_

_"Hey!" Alex protested, although he was doubled over laughing just like them all. _

*Flashback End*

_'Diana!'_ Soren's slight exclamation pulled me out of _that_ particular funny memory, and I realized that my grip was loosening on Soren's hand. _'Sorry, got distracted,'_ I said, ordering my fingers to move again, but Soren didn't reply.

The darkness abruptly swirled faster, and we were spit out unceremoniously into the mortal world again.

Almost immediately, a wave of nausea overcame me, and I broke my hold from both of the boys before sitting down heavily on the cement ground, cradling my head as I fought down the bile rising in my throat.

Hmm.. if there's airsickness, carsickness, and seasickness, then what I'm feeling should be... shadowsickness. Now that sounds funny. I could just imagine going to a doctor and saying, "Hello, I'm shadowsick from shadowtraveling!"

I was interrupted in my thoughts when Alex's worried calling made me raise my hand and wave it about. "I'm here, I'm fine. What's all that noise about?" I said irritably, and soon Lily's glowing eyes came nearer to the ground, as she supported somebody else on the ground, like me.

_'I'm fine, just let me get up,'_ Soren grumbled in my head, heaving himself up with the help of Lily and Mason. Alex steadied me by putting his hand on my shoulder, and I leaned against him for a bit as I shook off the dizziness.

"He says he's fine," I said aloud for Lily's benefit, and I saw her noticeably relax. "Well? Let's go," Soren said, and we started walking towards the brightly lit neon building that was in front of us.

But as I walked, I couldn't shake off the feeling that something was wrong with Soren.

* * *

><p><strong>Yeah! I should be the queen of cliffhangers or something!<strong>

**Or maybe a member of the 'Sadistic-Evil-Writers' Club, SEWC!**

**Anyway, I invented a word! Shadowsick! WHOO!**

**Did you like the little flashback I put there?**

**And keep waiting, 'cause the story has just begun, and more action/angst/fluff awaits you all! *thunder booms***

**Review count is 35!**

**{Replies to Reviews}**

**Chouxes(x2)- Yeah, I have no choice but to update as fast as I can, because there's about six and counting readers who are verbally and physically cursing me to Hades and back to update or they'll kill me. And I'm already thinking of writing a novel someday, and I've already planned out two whole series, novellas, plus a trilogy! And that counts up to as _sixteen_ books! There's '_The Ignis Cycle', 'TIC Novella: The Untold Secrets'_,_ 'Unbroken Series', _and the '_Psiromega Trilogy'_. Anything sounds promising to you? And yes, Psiromega is a word I made up, and it's Psi, Rho, and Omega combined together!**

**The Book-Crazy Otaku Fangirl- But I've gotta admit, writing obnoxious people is actually weirdly cathartic, since you get you release your inner bitchiness without having to hurt someone in real life. And since I have a talent for annoying people that I rarely get to use, here's where I put it to the test! And the whole point of their argument is to show how Alex is being unusually outwardly aggressive, since he's usually a passive-aggressive person. And I agree with the entire 'beat-the-crap-out-of-Mason'!**

**MeganAnnabethJackson- You're welcome! And I have more interesting fights in store, so save your 'getting-worked-up' for later, 'cause you're going to need it a lot! After all, Alex isn't the only person who has an enemy! And please update your English demigod story(sorry, forgot the title)! **

**FictionalSalvation- You update, moi update. Capiche? And I replied to half (or maybe all) of your review by PM. So here's the other half:  
>HAHAHAhAHAhA! I can't <em>wait<em> to see your face (and what you're going to curse me to Hades with) when you see what else I have in store! Thanks for telling me your weakness! Sethie, come here to Momma! *crackles madly***

** randomer11- But...but that doesn't mean you're gonna stop reviewing, right? *Bambi eyes* That's even worse than being threatened! I swear on my godly father that I will add a fluffy scene for you if you review! Pretty, pretty please with a chapter on top?**

**R&R!**

**~~XxThalicoRULZxX**


	8. Alex: Nighttime Thoughts

**Dedicated to randomer11 this time!**

**BTW, I'm XxThalicoRULZxX, I assure you. I just changed my username.**

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><p><em>I don't want this moment to ever end,<em>  
><em>Where everything's nothing without you.<em>  
><em>I'd wait here forever just to, to see you smile,<em>  
><em>'Cause it's true, I am nothing without you.<em>  
><em>Through it all, I've made my mistakes.<br>__I stumble and fall, but I mean these words._

_-With Me, Sum 41_

*Alex's POV*

Groaning, I finally gave up attempting to sleep, and rolled over to my side, opening my eyes as I did so.

It took a few minutes for my eyes to get completely used to the darkness, and soon I could make out the vague outlines of my friends and also an unwelcome acquaintance.

I saw Diana sleeping, curled up like a cat not two feet in front of me, her black hair falling slightly into her face. Smiling a little, I reached out to brush the hair away from her face, admiring the way her lips curved into a natural smile, and the way her eyelashes fluttered, delicate as a butterfly's wings as she slept on.

To be entirely honest, when I had been young, I couldn't have even guessed that Diana would actually think of me in a way that was not platonic, never less actually becoming my girlfriend. I had at first thought that my childhood crush would end at just that, a crush.

It hadn't been easy, watching her grow up with me as her best friend, while she had to struggle though with her peers' bullying, just because of her eyes and the way she was 'different' from the rest, the way she stood out.

For me, her eyes were unique, and I wouldn't have traded her friendship for anything else in the world, something the other girls at our school had never understood.

Some would even come to me and ask why I, a straight A student, top of the class, and the school's best swimmer, kept hanging around with her, a delinquent, a rebel, and a freak. They told me that I could become a somebody instead of a nobody, only if I just left her to join them. But I had always declined.

It was because I knew they would never understand, because they saw her as an outcast, a freak. I saw Diana as my best friend, a girl who was unafraid of saying her thoughts, a girl who loved the sky, and a special person, because there was nobody quite like her in the world.

Diana was my best friend, my childhood crush, my girlfriend, my first and hopefully my last love. She was the one person I trusted most in the world, and the one person I was the most afraid of losing.

_Death by the hand of one closest to heart_.

No. I would never let her die, no matter what it takes.

And there was no way in Hades I would let Mason get close to her in any way possible. I knew he was bad news, even if that makes me sound jealous. And I'm not jealous.

_'Good luck on convincing yourself that,'_ My Athenian logic, which I've started just calling as Logic for short, had been piping up more lately, even more than when Diana had left the camp for the Hunters.

Actually, now that I think of it, _that_ was when this entire 'talk to myself' schizo Logic started.

_"The Romans were right to cast out Athena as Minerva. She's supposed to be a virgin goddess, for Ares' sake!"_

Mason's taunting voice rang in my ears.

I gritted my teeth as I shifted my position to lay flat on my back rather than on my side, like I did just a few minutes ago.

I watched the black starless sky -thanks, air pollution- and felt the thankfully cooler breeze of a summer night brush across my face, bringing with it the scent of cheap perfume, exhaust gases, dank alley air, and dust. For some reason, I couldn't settle my thoughts down enough to get sleep.

I hated Mason.

There was no doubt about it, godly influence or no. How could I even begin to like him, when all he does, is try to get under my skin?

Considering the circumstances that had made Mason fall asleep a little downway from us, I was actually really tempted to kick him in the face just to see what would happen, but I managed to reel in the urge just in time. But my foot twitched a little. Maybe just this once?

_"That coming from the person who couldn't even save himself,"_

Mason, if annoying and irritating me to Hades -scratch Hades. You're irritating me to _Tartarus_ and back- until I die from lack of sleep -and Fatal Familial Insomnia, for example, _can_ kill you- was your life goal, congratulations, you succeeded, moron.

_'Prove it to him that you are stronger, more powerful. Then he will leave you alone.'_

Oh, and add that to the fact that I've started talking to myself, and presto, you get a schizophrenic Alex. Great, now I'm referring to myself in the 3rd perspective. My current mental health isn't looking so good now.

_'He was raised with Roman ideals. And Romans respect power. __All-' '_Logic? Shut up._' '-you have to do is let your mind do the work, not your heart,'_ Logic went on as if I hadn't spoken.

I stifled a groan, rolling over again on the hard ground, my backpack rustling under my head at my movement. Like a miracle, our backpacks had survived the attack at the Air & Space Museum, simply because we had all forgotten to take them off.

We were all camping out in a secluded alleyway, and we were all curled up into one big heap on the middle of the cement ground. Yeah, not quite your five-star hotel, but still better than being caught unprepared in the Lotus Casino.

And speaking of that, there were only two reasons we hadn't just gone and booked rooms in the Lotus Casino. One, we were all too tired to resist whatever lure that casino had in store for us, so we had decided to wait until the next morning.

But the second reason was much more serious, a bit more worse then Soren ever wanted to admit.

Lily and I had nearly died of heart failure when, while we had been walking slowly towards the Lotus Casino, debating whether or not to go in or wait, Soren had been way too tired to continue on, not that he would ever admit it, so Lily had made all of us stop for a few minutes while 'she got over the weird feeling of shadowtraveling'.

None of us had complained because we had all known it was Lily's excuse for letting Soren rest. Or actually, Mason had rolled his eyes, and I had glared at him until he had looked away, muttering something under his breath about a certain someone being a deadweight.

That had made me say, a bit loudly, that a _certain someone else_ was an annoying prick who kept acting like he owned everything, and that _somebody_ would like to very much punch that_ certain __someone else _in the face because he was annoying _somebody_ to death.

Now, to understand fully, substitute '_a certain someone else_' for a person whose name starts with an M, and replace '_somebody_' with yours truly.

That, of course, had led to a near-fight _again_, and Diana had threatened to electrocute us to Hades unless we stopped, so I had grudgingly changed my sword back to my watch, while Mason just sighed, and reduced the javelin in his hands back to the metal cylinder.

But that wasn't the bad part. The bad part was, that when Lily had tried to force Soren to sit down on the nearest bench -"Sit. Or I'm going to make you."/ "I told you, I'm perfectly fine,"/ "You're not _going_ to be fine if you don't sit down,"/ "Make me."/ "Sit dow- SOREN!"- and her hand just passed straight through him, as if he was as substantial as a ghost.

Yeah, you heard me right. Soren was currently about solid as a ghost, and equally as annoyed with the situation. He didn't make anything easier by promptly passing out right then and there, cuing Lily's panic attack.

Diana had only managed to calm her down when she had explained that he would get better after some rest, so we had decided to camp out around Soren, since he was way out of it and currently unmovable due to his semi-solidity.

_'You could have left him there. Nothing could have hurt him, anyway, since nothing can touch him, apparently.'_ Logic said, and I sighed, rolling to my other side.

I was probably waking everybody up with my restless tossing and turning about, but I dare you to have an extremely insensitive voice of logic hardwired inside to your brain and listen to it at night without moving an inch. Go on, I dare you.

_'_Is this really what all Athena kids have to go through every day? If they do, I feel sorry,_'_ I thought, and rubbed my forehead wearily.

_'Not really. To them, it's second nature. For you, you're used to your Poseidon heart that prevents you from being naturally obedient, and allows you to solve problems emotionally. Unrestrained, because the ocean does not like to be held back. _

_'But it's conflicting heavily with your Athena mind that makes your rational decisions, analyzes everything with perfect, unerring calculations. It's used to following the rules to the _t_, and answering questions with hard, concrete facts.'_ Logic explained.

_'_So, technically, 'my mind and heart are at war'?_'_ I thought sarcastically, trying to see if my own logic had a sense of sarcasm.

_'For you, it's more literal than most.'_ Apparently not.

_'_Now just let me sleep._'_ I complained weakly as I once again rolled over, this time back on my back, and closed my eyes, determined to go to sleep, somehow.

_'Alex, you of all people should know that attempting to sleep actually makes you more awake,'_ Logic chided, and I sighed. This was going to be one long night.

* * *

><p><em>Alex was falling. <em>

_His surroundings were a flash of blue, grey, and green, and the grey was rapidly disappearing from his vision, growing smaller and smaller until he couldn't see it anymore._

_'_Soren would never attempt suicide by this way. He's too afraid of falling,'_ He mused, his ADHD mind trying to, and doing a very good job at, distracting himself from his most likely inevitable death._

_'_But what about me?_' Oh well, Alex thought. The distraction could only go so long before his natural sense of preservation kicked in, forcing him to be even more aware of his surroundings._

_Wind whistled in his ears, and the only sound he could hear above the wind was the sound of his own blood rushing through his ears and his heart beating wildly, almost seemingly about to beat itself out of his chest._

_Alex vaguely thought of the people committing suicide by jumping off high places, and remembered the fact that a vast majority died of heart attack on the way down rather than from the impact itself._

_He could only hope his demigod heart was stronger than a mortal's, and that he wouldn't die._

_But there was also the possibility of smashing against the bottom, if he ever survived to reach the bottom. _

_Alex tried to reach out for anything to break his fall, but there was only empty air surrounding him, the wind rushing past him with a force so strong it hurt, as if it was taunting him. _

_'Your girlfriend can control the very winds,_ _and yet you are about to die in either her's or her brother's domain.' It seemed to say._

_But there was nothing._

_Nothing to stop him from hitting the ground._

* * *

><p>I bolted upright, and instinctively grabbed the nearest thing to me in a panic, sure that I was still falling. The dream had seemed so real.<p>

"Let me go before I kill you," a dark voice growled, and I withdrew my hand sharply, glancing down to see Soren very much solid again and pissed off, glaring daggers at me.

"Sorry, my mistake," I apologized, and Soren just rolled his eyes, stretching leisurely like a cat in the sun.

It was then I noticed the cement around Soren had cracked. Not just that, but dark seams radiated outward like a shotgun blast of ink from where Soren had been before, as if his body had tried to expel the excess darkness from him.

Lily, and Mason were already up, and packing their stuff back into their bags, and I allowed myself a moment of irritated sleepiness before I grudgingly started to put my pack in order again, mentally checking if everything was in place.

After everybody had woken and gotten ready, Diana taking an extra few moments to get up due to her not-being-an-early-morning-person, we all walked reluctantly and plenty wary, to the bright neon signs that refused to turn off or tone down even in the bright summer daylight.

Right when we approached the doors, an overly perky bellhop came out, opening the glass doors for us, making a rush of air-conditioned cool air cascade over us like Elysium in the desert.

Elysium on the outside, and Tartarus on the inside, more likely.

"Welcome to the Lotus Casino! Here's your room key! The bill's been already taken care of, so no need to worry about that, and there's no extra charges, and no tips needed. Just go up to the top floor, room 6075. If you need anything, just call the front desk. And of course, we can't forget your LotusCash cards!" He said, handing us each a green plastic credit card.

I exchanged wary glances with Diana before we entered the casino, the sickly sweet scent of lotus blossoms beckoning us invitingly.

* * *

><p><strong>Awww... I love writing Alex!<strong>

**In case you didn't know, Mason's Minerva comment was meant to belittle Annabeth, who is Alex's mom.**

**What's your opinion about Alex's Athenian logic, newly dubbed Logic?**

**Oooh, now they're going to enter the Lotus Casino! What will await them there? **

**Review count is 39!**

**{Replies to Reviews}**

**The Book-Crazy Otaku Fangirl- Well, now you know! Thanks, I love writing their flashbacks and oneshots, 'cause young Alex/Diana/Soren are just plain freaking adorable! And you'd better get used to my cliffhangers, because there's going to be quite a lot of them in this story!**

**FictionalSalvation- Yup! I proudly admit to be in love with sadism and sociopathy! Naw, Soren isn't the one to die easily, right? He's stronger than that, right? I believe I just gave away a spoiler. But, oh well, it doesn't matter really. _Because I have even more evil plans in mind!_ *cue evil snickers* And grazie for the 'three language' credit! Honestly, I'm a bit tempted to write 'tres lingua' instead of 'three language' back there, but that would be trying too hard.**

**MeganAnnabethJackson- Whoop whoop! Yes! Please write as soon as possible! And don't worry, that happens to me, too. Which leads me to the topic of school...I'm starting my first day of high school in March 2nd! (Yeah, in Korea, schools start on March 2nd.) Due to that, my story updating speed will be slowed down considerably... just to warn you.**

**randomer11- *laughs cruelly* Ha! Thy words do not scare me! I shall use SALLY'S BLUE COOKIES to defend myself from thy verbal and possibly physical attacks! (::)(::)(::)**

**R&R!**

**~~NightShadow99 (I changed my username! What do you think?)**


	9. Soren: Deadly Mimicry

**Dedicated to DaughterOfDeathAndLightning1, Guest #1 (Luisa), and Guest #2 (Banana) for reviewing!**

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><p><em>What you became<em>  
><em>Some things never change and so we<br>__We learn from all your hate_  
><em>We are lost in your mistakes<em>  
><em>Play our hymn for the brand new day<em>  
><em>We burn, we learn<em>

_-All Your Hate, Black Veil Brides_

*Soren's POV*

The Lotus Casino was too loud, flashy, and chaotic for my liking, which must have shown, since the people there seemed to leave me alone. That, or they were too absorbed in wearing their fingers out on game consoles.

"Hey, check that out! There's a-" "Shut up, Mason. We're not here to play games," Alex said, and Mason scowled, but retracted his hand reluctantly. "Who does he think he is, my parent?" he muttered under his breath.

"And be careful on what you choose to do, since I'm not exactly hesitant to just leave you behind," Alex said coldly, pushing past him roughly with Diana in tow, her hand clasped tightly in his.

All of us, save Mason, were starting to get a little touchy and worried, since we had been here for nearly an hour now, but there was still no signs of a clue anywhere.

And we all knew time went much faster once we were in the Lotus Casino.

"Where do you think that damn clue is?" Diana said, and I shrugged. _'We don't even know what the clue looks like. And for all I know, there might not even be a clue here at all,'_ I pointed out helpfully.

_'Way to go on being a pessimist,'_ Diana snorted, rolling her eyes. _'Thanks for noticing my effort,'_ I said sarcastically.

"It probably would be somewhere where most people won't go to, or at least where there are less people. I mean, if I was the one who was giving the clues, I wouldn't want just anybody to find it," Lily suggested, and Alex nodded in agreement.

"That makes sense," he said, and Mason made a face. "What if it's actually in a place where there are _more_ people, just to screw around with us?" He asked, and Alex frowned slightly. "We'll have to split, then. One group goes to the less crowded place, and the other goes to the most crowded." Lily decided aloud.

"Diana, Soren, you'll have to go in different groups, since we'll need a way to contact each other just in case," Alex said, and Diana sighed.

"Di Angelo Telepath Communication, at your service," she said sarcastically, and I rolled my eyes.

_'Really, Diana, really?'_ I asked, and she shot me a smirk.

"Then I'll go with-" "Soren," Diana cut in, and Alex looked startled. "Why? -No offense,Soren- but why not you?" Alex said, and Diana motioned towards Mason.

"You and Soren both can't tolerate him for more than five minutes, and I think Lily would prefer it if we get this over with, without attracting attention," Diana explained, but Alex still looked unconvinced.

"But-"

"Alex, argue with us all you want, but you're only slowing us down," Lily said, and Alex closed his mouth.

"Okay, then we're going for the less crowded place, because I hate crowds," I said, and Alex shrugged, walking towards me.

"Where's the rendezvous place?" Mason asked, and I pointed towards the elevators that led up to the rooms upstairs.

"There. It's close enough to the doors, but not enough to rouse suspicion. And it's a bit away from the games, just in case we get tempted," I suggested, and Alex grinned.

"Nice, Soren," he said, and my mouth quirked up a bit. Lily raised an eyebrow. "Well? Let's start!"

* * *

><p>"I thought Lily said 'the less crowded place', not 'completely deserted'," I commented as we walked on, being careful to check for every nook and cranny for any signs of something out of the ordinary.<p>

"This is weird. With all the people down there, and considering how people rarely escape here, shouldn't there be more people?" Alex said, his sea-green eyes narrowed in intense concentration.

We were taking turns opening the separate doors in the long, completely secluded hallway, and some of the lights overhead were out, casting shadows everywhere.

For some reason, this reminded me of three years ago, back when we had been completely blind to the Greek Mythological world, and Alex been the only one who had known what had been going on. The dark hallways, the monsters after us, the complete confusion... Add a couple of monsters to the mix, and we've got ourselves a recreation.

But this time, we were prepared.

I was about to open the door in front of us, when Diana's voice burst into my thoughts. _'Soren!'_

I flinched, the door handle rattling in my hands. "What?" Alex asked me, his eyes darting everywhere in case of an surprise attack. Without turning my head, I raised a hand, signaling him to be quiet.

_'Diana? What's the problem?'_ I asked cautiously, still frozen to the spot, my ears straining for any sounds of an oncoming monster attack. For a couple of moments, there was no reply, and a cold feeling grew in my gut.

_'Diana?'_ I repeated, tensing slightly. _'Are you there?' _I could faintly feel her emotions, which was a mass of confusion, shock, anger, and adrenaline. "Soren?" Alex spoke up from beside me, but I ignored him, my mind completely focused on Diana.

_'What's going on?'_ I said, feeling more and more worried by the second as the silence stretched on, punctured only occasionally by flashes of emotion and a whirlwind of thoughts.

"Soren," Alex said urgently, but I shook my head. I needed total concentration if I was going to 'hear' her emotions from such a distance away.

_'Can you hear me? Are you hurt? Say something!'_ And then I felt it, the barest shifting of thoughts. _'S-'_

"Get away from the door!" Alex shouted as he pushed me away from the door, which I had been holding the handle. "Wha-"

The door flung open from the inside, and I saw a flash of light blue before two monsters shot out of it, one of them ramming straight into Alex, who slammed into the opposite wall, his hand already reaching for his left hand.

A spartoi went towards me, its skull clattering as it advanced, its weapon at ready. It was glowing with a ghostly gray light which covered it like a second translucent layer of skin.

I knew that it would reassemble almost immediately if I broke it into pieces, and right now, I couldn't summon my sword because my ring, which contained it, was in my pocket where I had placed it just a few minutes ago in a fit of stupid ADD absentmindedness.

And now, I was going to pay for it.

Alex was too busy fending off his hellhound to help me, and even if he did, he couldn't offer me much help since only a child of the Underworld could defeat a spartoi.

I ducked as its spear swung around, and I could feel the wind from the force ruffle my hair. It started to go forward in an offensive maneuver, but luckily, I had experience in fighting against a spear, thanks to Diana.

Silently, I also thanked Chiron for making me -or rather, forcing me- to practice hand-to-weapon combat, too. Or, according to Chiron, a special modified form of capoeira, which was a type of Brazilian material art.

I had been a bit skeptical at first, because I had thought I would never use it. But Chiron had just smiled, saying, "Annabeth had just been the same as you. But rope climbing saved her life," he said, leaving me with an Ares camper.

Luckily for me, I also happened to have Hunter reflexes. _Grazie_, too, Mom.

My kicks have been stronger than my punches as a general rule, so I round-house kicked it, knocking out a few ribs and the left upper arm, sending it flying in Alex's direction, and used the back of my heel to dislodge more ribs.

I jumped back when the spartoi staggered, its bones knitting back as I watched, and rolled to the side to avoid its spear, and instantly did a low cartwheel with both of my hands touching the ground, kicking out as I did so, making it step back to avoid it.

Pausing slightly to catch my breath as I got up, I tensed my legs, and did an aerial cartwheel, modified to be an attack. Yes, when Diana is your sister, you learn stuff like cartwheels.

"Soren!" Alex yelled, and I glanced his way to see him throw his sword at me. I had to punch the skeleton in the face, knocking off its skull, to get to Tsunami, and picked it up off the ground.

For a moment, I was thrown off, as I wasn't used to Tsunami's slightly different balance compared to Iskios, but things like that didn't matter much in attacking skeletons.

I slashed the spartoi's legs out from under it, and when it went down, I stabbed it in the chest, roughly where the heart should be, and it erupted in flames, burning to ashes.

Panting from the effort, I stepped back, tossing Tsunami back to Alex, to caught it before running to me. "You okay?" he asked, and I nodded, rolling my arms a bit to relieve the stiffness from supporting my body weight earlier.

"Yep. Give me a sec to contact Diana," I said. _'Diana?' _I started, and instantly felt her relief wash over me.

_'Soren! I tried speaking a few minutes ago, but you didn't answer me. But that's not what I was going to tell you. We're trapped.'_ Diana said, and my eyes widened slightly.

"Diana says they're trapped."

Alex instantly stiffened, then said, "Ask her where she is," he demanded. "Already on it." I replied. _'Where are you?'_

There was a pause, then Diana said, _'I don't know. I just followed this feeling of death -at first, I thought it was you- but we ended up in this weird maze.'_ She said slowly, her words slightly nervous.

A feeling of death... which had been exactly what I had sensed behind the door earlier, which had contained the hellhound and spartoi. Now that I think of it, even with those two gone, there was still the cold, empty feeling of Death radiating from there.

"We have to go inside that door," I told Alex, and we didn't waste any time in the hallway.

Our swords out, providing a faint golden and dark purple glow, we cautiously made our way down the dark, my eyes adjusting easily in the gloom. But Alex was going to have a harder time navigating.

The further we went in, the more stronger the lingering feeling of Death became, until I felt as if my demigod death radar was pinging like crazy. The feeling radiated from all around us, but it was more concentrated a bit more ahead.

I started to get worried when the walls started to become more narrower, until the width became about to when three people would barely fit in side by side.

"We're in the maze," Alex clarified unnecessarily, and we forged on ahead. _'Soren,'_ Diana's voice was back, but this time, it came with a growing fear and a spike of shock from her emotions.

_'What?'_ _'L-look at the walls,'_ she stammered, and just then, Alex raised his sword slightly, the faint glow from it giving the uneven walls eerie shadows. I looked closer, and Alex cursed under his breath, clearly as shocked as I was.

The walls, which I had originally thought was rock, was actually something else more sinister and cruel. Skeletons.

It was made completely out of skeletons piled together to form walls, and with a sickening feeling, I thought of how many deaths had to be made to form mazes this big.

"What the Hades?" I muttered under my breath. _'Skeletons. And we've realized somthing,'_ Diana said, her voice shaky. _'We're in a Cyclops' lair. We need to get out!'_

_'Diana, where are you?' 'We're-'_

Diana's thoughts abruptly cut off, and there was terrible silence for a few minutes as I relayed what I had heard to Alex. Even in the dim glow, I could see Alex pale considerably, and his eyes grew wide.

"Why was she cut off?" Alex whispered. "I don't know, but she's near us." I said, and we both quickened our pace on an unspoken agreement, me leading the way around as the walls widened to form three different pathways.

Without hesitation, I picked the right, and Alex followed behind, both of us nearly jogging. It went that way for several times, me relying on my instincts to track Diana, and somehow, I felt as if we were continuously getting closer and sometimes going away every time I chose a path.

_'Diana, what happened?'_ I said. My question, however, was almost immediately answered.

"ALEX! _ALEX!_"

We both froze in our tracks. Diana's scream still continued to echo, and Alex took off almost instantly, going on a full out sprint. I barely hesitated before following, us both headed towards the source of the scream.

My heart pounded with fear. My thoughts instantly came to Lily. She had been with Diana, what had happened to her? Frankly, I didn't care much about Mason, but Lily was another matter.

"Lily! Diana!" I shouted.

"Soren! Sor-" Lily's cry was abruptly cut off, and I shot a panicked glance at Alex. He looked equally as terrified as I felt, and was about to say something, when there was a terrible shriek, and a sickeningly familiar metallic scent filled the air.

The scent of blood.

"Diana!" "Lily!" We both yelled, but only more screaming answered our calls. _'Diana!'_ I said, but there was silence.

"Lily!" I tried again, nearly stumbling over as I poured on speed. My heart was pounding so hard it felt like it would burst any second, and taking a breath got harder and harder with every step we ran.

Alex suddenly faltered, making me crash directly into the wall, sending bones tumbling down on me. Alex helped me brush them off, and I looked up, straight into the opening I had created.

Just then, I remembered the special ability all Cyclops had.

Mimicry.

* * *

><p><strong>Evil cliffhanger!<strong>

**What do you think happened to Diana, Lily, and Mason?**

**Why did Soren keep sensing Death everywhere?**

**Did you like the fight scene?**

**And everybody keeps asking about Alex's dream, and if he will die or not. As for that, you guys will just have to wait! Mwahahahaha!**

**And wow, thanks for the reviews! There's so many!**

**Review count is 50!**

**I don't have time to reply to reviews this time, so I'll just acknowledge you, and reply on the next chapter!**

**Thank you, Chouxes, The Book-Crazy Otaku Fangirl, FictionalSalvation, randomer11, DaughterOfDeathAndLightning1, Guest #1 (Luisa), Guest #2 (Banana)**

**Yes, I did read all of your reviews.**

**R&R!**

**~~NightShadow99**


	10. Leila: Burning Fire

**Dedicated to FictionalSalvation and MeganAnnabethJackson to cheer them on in writing their own fanfictions!**

**Honorary mention of DaughterOfDeathAndLightning1 for giving me an awesome chapter idea!**

**Special mention for The Book-Crazy Otaku Fangirl for personal reasons!**

* * *

><p><em>Tear down the cross,<em>  
><em>Splinters and shards.<em>  
><em>Remembered this Trojan horse<em>  
><em>Rode to the land we enter.<em>  
><em>We'll burn away<em>  
><em>And free our fallen brothers<em>  
><em>From shackles made<em>  
><em>Of steel and bones of soldiers.<em>

_-Shadows Die, Black Veil Brides_

*Leila's POV*

I watched anxiously as Diana's face grew more and more frustrated, until she opened her eyes, sighing quietly.

"I can't get Soren to listen. From the time that stupid Cyclops stopped me from speaking to Soren halfway through, I can't get through to him. Soren's completely focused on something else, and it's shutting me out," she said, and I bit my lip.

Diana sighed again, slumped against a wall -a real one, made of stone- and tugged uselessly at the bonds restraining us. But no matter how hard she tried, the rubber refused to budge.

Originally, we had been shackled in chains, but after Diana's little stunt involving electricity and the metal, effectively frying two of the six to ashes, we had been tied up in rubber bands, of all materials. You'd find it hard to believe, but as much as I hated to admit it, Cyclops were good with their hands.

Now my hands' blood circulation was slowly being cut off by numerable amounts of rubber bands. How lovely.

"Why the fuck did you have to use that electricity thing back then? We could have used it as a secret weapon!" Mason snapped from across us, equally bound, but he was in actual chains unlike me and Diana.

"So _sorry_ for ruining whatever your brilliant plan was," Diana drawled, rolling her eyes. Mason glowered at her, looking every now and then towards his metal cylinder on the floor, besides the Cyclops guards.

Of course, _I_ had one more idea in mind, but I didn't dare voice it or try it out until we had a better chance of escape.

"I had to fall for that old Cyclops trick, of all things," Diana grumbled, watching the Cyclops sitting around a small fire on the ground.

We were in a roughly square room, and Diana and I were shoved into the right corner farthest from the exit, and Mason was across from us, on the left corner. Between us, were two Cyclops poking at the crackling flame, stirring the embers every now and then.

The other two had gone out to find Soren and Alex. It still made the hairs on my arms rise whenever I heard them in the distance, screaming in our voices. The scent of blood was a nice touch, though I hated to know where it came from.

The chamber we were in, was dark, the only source of light being the fire, and I could only guess we were in the center of that confusing maze we had unknowingly got into.

Or actually, a maze we had stumbled into, courtesy of His Royal Pain-in-the-ass, Mason.

A monster had attacked us, forcing us to retaliate, and the Lotus Casino staff had started to come towards us in a non-welcoming way, so Mason had panicked, going into a side door on the first floor.

Some other people seemed to be wandering in every now and then, so I had assumed it was safe, and followed, forcing Diana to come along as well.

And after a few minutes of stumbling around lost in the dark, the other mortals suspiciously nowhere to be seen, I had heard Soren calling my name.

_*Flashback*_

_"Where the Hades are we?" Diana asked as my hands lit up like a flashlight, providing us with a lovely view of the daunting walls on either side of us. I tried searching for the way we had come earlier, but there was no sign of a door, open or not._

_"Don't blame me, you're the one who followed me," Mason said, and Diana glared at him, her spear in her hands crackling with electricity as occasional sparks lit up the dark._

_"And you're the one who got us here in the first place," she hissed, and I pushed myself between them before they could fight._

_"We're supposed to be finding a way out, not argue. Now shut up," I ordered as I started to walk ahead, sticking one of my hands out in front of me to light up the path. The walls seemed to grow closer and closer, until it got too narrow for us to all go through at once, so we went single-file._

_I was in front, Mason behind me, and Diana came up last, because she claimed that she couldn't trust him not to stab her in the back, and she would keep an eye on him for me, just in case he decided to attack me for some reason._

"Leila,"

_I stopped dead in my tracks, just directly in front of where the path split off into two ways. I raised a hand for silence, straining my ears to hear that voice again._

_And suddenly, Diana pushed ahead of me, her eyes wide. "Alex," she whispered, her eyes staring to the right. _

_I frowned; I had heard Soren's voice, not Alex's. Mason, however, looked at us confusedly. "What are you doing? I didn't hear anything," he complained, and Diana whirled around on him, saying, "Be quiet!"_

"Leila, can you hear me?" _Soren's voice echoed in the dark._

_"Soren?" I ventured aloud cautiously, taking a step forward. There was a pause, and Alex's voice spoke up. _"Is Diana with you? Is Mason there?"

_"I'm here, and Mason is, too," Diana replied, and we started to walk towards the path on the right, Mason following behind us. "Soren? Where are you? Can you see me?" I asked, raising one of my hands to illuminate a bit further ahead of us. _

"Are you that spot of light over there?" _Soren asked, and I nodded, before forgetting that he wasn't completely in sight. "Yeah, where are you? We need to get out of this maze right now," Diana cut in._

"Don't worry, stay where you are. We'll come to you," _Alex said, and we stopped just a little ways into the right pathway. Mason lingered a bit behind us, looking bored as he fiddled with his metal cylinder, still not in javelin mode. _

_There was dead silence for a few moments, when a thought struck me. Soren_ _never__ called me Leila. It was always Lily. _

_A cold feeling went down my spine. "Diana," I said as quietly as possible. Diana looked up at me from her position on the misshapen wall, her eyes narrowed against the bright light coming from my hands. "What?" she asked._

_"Don't... don't you think something feels a bit off?" I whispered, and Diana contemplated this for a moment before she nodded slowly. "Yeah, 'cause Alex would never be concerned about the whereabouts of Mason. But that could be just me," she said, and I froze. _

_"Thanks for acting like I'm deaf," Mason snorted behind me, and I spun around, feeling the blood drain from my face. "What's wrong?" he asked, frowning._

_"Isn't it strange that Soren would be so calm, when we are obviously in trouble? And Diana, Soren never calls me Leila," I pointed out, and Diana's lips parted slightly in shock. _

_It was then I noticed the wall behind her. "Diana, look behind you," I said slowly, and she noticed it at the same time. The wall she had been leaning on had been made entirely of bones. Human skeletons._

_To give her credit, Diana reacted fairly calmly, as she pushed herself off the wall, muttering Italian swearwords under her breath. And then her head snapped up, staring at us with a growing horror._

_"Lily, Mason, what kind of monster can imitate voices? Cyclops. We're in their lair," she told us, and Mason cursed._

_"Then we need to get out as soon as possible, and warn the boys," I said, and Diana said, "Already on it." But she paled, looking over our heads._

_I slowly turned around, as did Mason, and came to face two Cyclops, each with one big eye in the center of their foreheads._

_"Too late," One of them rumbled, smirking horribly. And everything went black as a sharp pain burst in the back of my head._

_*Flashback End*_

I was jerked out of my thoughts when Diana tensed, and dismay washed over her face. "No..." she whispered.

"What? Why?" I said, not actually caring about how loud my voice was. The Cyclops would hear us no matter how softly we talked, anyway.

"Alex," she said simply, and I glanced towards the entrance.

Soren and Alex were shoved roughly in just then, and they saw us. "Soren!" I cried out in surprise, and Soren's eyes widened slightly, while Alex struggled fruitlessly with the strong Celestial Bronze handcuffs on his wrists, preventing Alex from reaching his watch.

"Looks like we'll have tasty demigod meat for supper!" The second of the Cyclops chuckled, and Diana spat at him. "In your dreams, moron," she snarled, her eyes filled with blazing fury.

She was about to say something again, but tensed, concentrating on something. I studied Soren, and found that he had the same expression on his face, his eyes slightly off focus.

Something was up. And I worried, that while Alex would be able to catch on quickly, I had to hope that I could as well, and not end up killing all of us.

"Okay," Diana spoke up abruptly, causing Alex and I to stare at her. "You caught us. Congratulations and whatever. But I'm afraid you can't hurt Alex over there."

"And why is that?" One of them jeered, and Diana took a deep breath before continuing, "Your daddy is Poseidon, right? Well, Alex's dad is a son of Poseidon as well, and Poseidon's favorite son to boot. You wouldn't want your daddy angry, would you?"

During Diana's little speech, Alex made a disgusted face, which made me snicker quietly, and I swear I saw Soren smirk. The monsters talked among themselves, obviously confused.

"And," Diana kept talking, "can you give me a glass of water? My throat is _burning_," she emphasized, tugging on the rubber that held her slightly. I felt a tiny spark of an idea bloom in my mind, combined with my handy talents.

"Water? With a descendant of Poseidon over there? No." The Cyclops said, a triumphant expression on his face.

While Diana kept the Cyclops distracted, I slowly focused, and felt the rubber on mine and Diana's wrists start to heat up slightly. I knew I had to act quickly, and we would have to get out as soon as possible, before the smell alerted the monsters.

What smell, you ask? You'll see.

I feverishly hoped that Diana had a high pain tolerance, because while I wouldn't be effected, I knew what I was doing, was going to hurt a _lot_.

And as for Alex, Soren, and Mason's chains, I just hoped Soren had considered that part.

Wincing inwardly, I increased the intensity of the heat, and Diana's voice faltered slightly from pain, but she continued on.

"Oh, really? Now that I think of it-" I tuned her out, and raised my head, meeting Soren's dark blue eyes, almost black in the gloom.

He nodded ever so slightly, and closing my eyes, I took a deep breath, before I conjured up fire.

Directly onto Diana's wrists.

The fire caught quickly, and a tiny flame danced across the rubber, melting and burning it as it grew bigger, and I could feel Diana's voice start to shake slightly.

_Please.. please.._

I looked at Alex, and he was looking at Diana with both a confused and worried look. The rubber bands fell apart, along with a ton of smoke. Damn it.

"What's that smell?" One of the monsters said confusedly.

"As for that- Alex, now!" I shouted, and thankfully, Alex understood. There was silence for a few seconds before a huge wave of water surged out of nowhere, and doused out every fire, leaving us in darkness.

"Get those demigods!" Somebody roared, and suddenly, I was being tugged away. "It's me, Diana!" Diana hissed when I tried to pull out of her grasp, and soon, Soren's cold fingers found my other hand.

I could barely see anything, but I saw the glint of broken chains lying on the ground, illuminated by Tsunami in Diana's hand.

"Join hands!" Soren ordered, and we all linked hands, and as our surroundings darkened, I saw a flash of pale blue.

Then the shadows swirled around us, blocking my view, and whisked us away to who knows where.

* * *

><p><strong>What do you think about Diana and Soren's plan? Is Diana okay?<strong>

**What do you think of Leila's flashback?**

**But they're out of the casino! Yay! But they were in there for a few hours... how much time has passed? Not much, hopefully!**

**Review count is 55!**

**{Replies to Reviews (along with last chapters')}**

**MeganAnnabethJackson(x2)- So do I! Poor Alex and Soren... but now you know from Diana, Leila, and Mason's perspective! And my goal of making Mason into a total hate-worthy character has been accomplished!**

**Chouxes(x3)- Thank you for your support, and I'll try to write my novels (or novettes) as soon as possible! I want them published as much as you do! And congratulations for reviewing twice in a row without being tardy!**

**The Book-Crazy Otaku Fangirl(x2)- That's why Alex and Soren are my favorite characters to write from their perspective, because they have more soliloquies than the others! And about Alex's dream? Well, you'll get to know much later in the story! *evil cackle* And everybody wants to kill me these days... starting with randomer11 as president of '_Kill NightShadow99 if she kills one of our favorite characters Club'_**

**FictionalSalvation(x2)- You seem to love capital letters these days... not that I can blame you. I'd be the same if I had been in your shoes, but luckily for me, I already know how it will end, since TIQ's already written out in my journal. Did you know that originally, way back when I started writing TIQ -in 2014 January, its title used to be 'Heart of Fire'? No lie. And that was _before _ Black Veil Brides IV came out. Isn't that creepy? And Alex... *evil laugh* You'll have to wait and see!**

**randomer11(x2)- Umm.. *squeaks* can I choose writing? Everybody wants me to kill Mason though... Hmm... Maybe I _shouldn't_, just to spite all of you! Ha! ...*cricket chirps* and now you're back to threatening me again. I'll give you the president spot for the club mentioned above in The Book-Crazy Otaku Fangirl's reply in _italics_.**

**DaughterOfDeathAndLightning1- Thanks for your ideas, and I hope you recognized them in this and the previous one's chapter! I managed to twist it a bit to fit it in the original plot, and I hope you liked it! **

**Guest #1 (Luisa) (x3)- Thank you for your continuous support! I know it's hard to keep track of my updates when you're a Guest, and I really wanted to tell you that I appreciate that! **

**Guest #2 (Banana)- I know those types of writers who become M.I.A for no reason at all, and I assure you, I'm not! Because TIQ's already pre-written, so there's no chance of me running out of ideas and encountering writer's block, which is a handy habit. Don't worry, I update once or twice a week, and even three times if the reviews fill the review count.**

**R&R!**

**~~NightShadow99**


	11. Diana: Hidden Past

**Dedicated to Chouxes for absolutely no reason at all except that I just want to!**

* * *

><p><em>And now I'm in<em>  
><em>Over my head, with something I said<em>  
><em>Completely misread I'm better off dead.<em>  
><em>And now I can see how fake you can be<em>  
><em>This hypocrisy's beginning to get to me.<em>

_-Over My Head, Sum 41_

*Diana's POV*

"I'm sorry about your wrists," Lily apologized for the third time, her amber eyes filled with worry. "S' okay," I managed to hiss out, wincing slightly.

Both of my wrists were bright red and had varying patches of first- and second-degree burns, the worst being on my left wrist because of my charm bracelet. It, being metal, had heated up much faster, and caused more damage.

So, while my burns were completely healed, I had taken to wearing my bracelet on my neck like a bizarre metal choker, but who cared, really?

The bandages we had managed to buy at the nearest pharmacy were slightly uncomfortable, and the fact that it was in the middle of summer didn't help very much. And now I had surrendered the Nemean Lion bomber jacket to Lily, which had promptly turned into a vest.

But as hot as I had to feel, Soren had to be practically boiling in his black and indigo clothes, the only bright patch being a white skull in the middle of his shirt. However, the only indication he made toward being hot was sitting down in the small shade provided by the small booth we were all crammed in McDonald's.

Luckily, McDonald's was air-conditioned, but naturally, our spot in the fast food place had to be the one place beside the only doors -demigod safety procedures- and every time the doors opened, in came a blast of hot, dry air.

"Two days. We lost two whole days," Alex sighed, and Mason rolled his eyes. "Well, if you guys had been able to find a clue, we wouldn't have wasted them," he snorted, and Alex tensed, his hand tightening around his glass of iced water.

The ice in my Coke started to melt at an alarmingly fast rate as Alex made an effort to keep his temper in check, but I could see by the subtle tightening of his jaw that he was failing miserably.

What was strange, was that out of all of us, Alex usually was the most calm and even-tempered person, but ever since Mason's arrival, Alex's temper had been getting shorter by the day, and my theory was that the tension between the gods were getting worse.

The only reason Soren and I hadn't been effected, was because Zeus and Hades had both been neutral in the Trojan War, and I hoped that they would remain the same in this conflict, too.

Lily was pretty okay on her own, too, considering the fact that Leto had taken the Trojan side, against the Greeks, but then again, Leto had barely done anything. And she was naturally a gentle goddess.

"That argument might have been effective if _you had found the clue,_ but as I recall, you were in the same boat as us," Alex snapped, turning his head from the window to glare at Mason.

Mason met his eyes squarely, hazel to sea-green, and it wasn't that hard to imagine the daggers shooting between them in an invisible contest of wills.

_'What do we do now? We only have eight days left,'_ Soren said quietly, and I shrugged, taking a sip of my fizzy drink.

"We're going around in circles right now. Isn't there anything from the prophecy that can help us?" Lily spoke up, and Alex broke his staring contest with Mason to answer her question.

"Not unless you count '_Remember the past, and all shall cease'._ But what past is it referring to?" He said.

"I think it might mean 'previous quests', but this is our first quest," I said, frowning slightly, and Alex nodded slightly, before he suddenly stopped. "What if," he started, "it means our _parents'_ quests?"

"Which one? Your dad alone went on more than six quests, and add that to our parents', and we have a lot to choose from," Soren pointed out, and Lily looked frustrated yet again as she was left out of the loop.

Someday, I'm going to have to sit her down and tell her about our parents' adventures.

"Think, Soren. What's the most similar quest to ours? '_Start from the beginning, the white angel's fall_.' It could mean my dad's third quest, where he went with Thalia and Bianca to rescue Artemis and find the Ophiotaurus." Alex said, and I cut in, starting to get an idea.

"Or it could mean Percy's first quest, when he retrieved the lightning bolt and such. He _did_ go to the Lotus Casino, right?" I added, and Alex smiled approvingly.

"It could be," he agreed. But Mason had to ruin the excitement of our new discovery by complaining, yet again.

"Why are you even sure that it's about Percy this and Percy that? For all you know, the past could mean something like your history. You're all getting excited over nothing," he drawled, and I whipped around to glare at him, even as Lily narrowed her eyes.

I opened my mouth to say something, but Alex beat me to it. "The quests _are_ part of our history, dumbass. And at least we're trying to figure out something, not making a complaint every five seconds," Alex said, and Mason scoffed, leaning back on his seat and crossing his arms.

"And lately, your ideas aren't that helpful, either." He shot back, and Alex's glass shattered, drawing the attention of several others in the place.

A waiter ran over to clean up the mess, but Alex waved her away impatiently, sweeping away the glass himself and tossed it into the trash, while Lily handed over the appropriate amount of money to pay for the glass, apologizing quietly.

"Shut up, Mason," I snapped, and Mason heaved a big sigh. "If it wasn't for your _brilliant_ boyfriend's idea of going into the Lotus Casino in the first place, we wouldn't have wasted two whole days," he said snidely, and sparks flew from my fingertips.

"We also wouldn't have fallen into that stupid Cyclops trap if you hadn't gone through that door!" I said, and Mason sneered. "Unlike you, that actually helped, since we ended up escaping the Lotus Casino," he said.

"Gods, Alex," he continued, redirecting his attention to Alex beside me. "Are you that much of a coward, that a _girl_ has to fight your fights for you?"

"Why you little-" I started furiously, while Alex's eyes turned a dangerous grey.

"Let's just leave before we get into more trouble, okay?" Lily said pleadingly, waving a hand between the space of Mason and us.

"Stay out of it, Lily," I said before I even registered what I had been saying. Lily's eyes grew wide, and Soren raised his head beside her.

_'Leave her alone,'_ he said, and I switched my glare to him, leaving Alex arguing with Mason. _'Not you, too, lover boy'_ I said sarcastically, and Soren's eyes got darker.

_'Look who's talking,'_ He hissed, and I rolled my eyes exaggeratedly. _'This is between Alex, me, and Mason. Just because you're my twin brother doesn't mean you have the right to butt in on whatever I do,'_ I spat.

_'And just because Lily tried to stop you guys from making a big fuss over nothing doesn't give you the right to yell at her,' _Soren said, narrowing his eyes to meet my glare head on.

_'Lily this and Lily that. Why don't you just say you prefer her over me?'_ I said venomously, and Soren's face suddenly went void of any emotion, which was what happened when Soren was really angry.

Lily sat, terrified, between us, her eyes darting between us, uncertain what to do.

"You're fucking annoying, you know that?" Alex snarled at Mason, who looked murderous and more than ready to attack him then and there.

"You're a know-it-all smartass who thinks he's better than everybody. Well, newsflash, Jackson-"

I tuned out their argument, too focused on Soren's midnight blue eyes burning holes into me. _'Well, Diana? Maybe I do,' _Soren spat, his eyes hardening into obsidian black.

I froze. I hadn't really expected Soren to answer, my challenge being said in the heat of the moment. _'You don't mean it,'_ I said, suddenly feeling cold inside, despite the hot summer.

Soren never looked away, every word as sharp and clear as broken glass. _'I mean it. Lily's not a controlling, bossy, stubborn, and ridiculous person like you. She tries to stop fights, not cause them. She's more than you'll ever get to be.'_

My throat was closing up, even if I didn't need any physical functions to talk to Soren. _'You're lying.' _I said weakly.

_'No, I'm not.'_ Soren said without a single bit of remorse.

"I_ hate_ you."

The three words that tumbled from my mouth as easily as breathing, seemed unnaturally loud in the silence as Alex, hearing me, suddenly broke off mid-speak.

Soren stared at me calmly, his face perfectly emotionless, but through our mind link, I could sense his equally as chaotic emotions as mine.

But Soren had gone too far.

"Diana," Alex said quietly, but I stood up, brushing away his hands, and walked out of the restaurant without looking back.

I had barely managed to take a couple of steps outside of McDonald's before I broke into a run, my surroundings fading to a blur as I ran on blindly.

* * *

><p>"...Mason?"<p>

I looked confusedly at the son of Ares in front of me. He was alone, which wasn't surprising, but it was the fact that nobody had followed him, that made me puzzled.

He had on an odd smirk on his face as he walked towards me, but I stayed still, simply too tired to run or move any further.

Just then, I heard the sound of running footsteps, and frantic calls of my name. "Diana!" Alex shouted, his voice echoing in the dark.

I started to get up, to walk towards him, to find a sense of comfort. But I knew that Soren was there, and that held me back. I lingered uncertainly, unsure whether to go forward or not.

Suddenly, Mason gave a smile, one that sent chills down my spine. "She's ready. Let's go," he said.

To someone behind me.

Almost immediately, strong hands restrained me from behind, pinning my arms to my sides in a powerful grip. "Alex!" I shrieked, and the footsteps got faster, with more voices.

"Diana! We're coming!" He yelled back, but I knew he would be too late.

"What's going on? Why are you doing this?" I shouted as I struggled, but it was in vain. The person was too strong, and I was drained from running earlier. Mason snickered, the shadows across his face making him look more sinister somehow.

"Let's just say I'm not the only one who's looking forward to a war," he said, and the cold hands on me tightened.

For one terrible moment, I thought it was Soren. The person's hands were equally as cold, and from what I could see in the dark, it was just as pale. And the person absolutely _radiated_ pure Death.

"Who are you?" I asked, and the person let out a single cold laugh. Somehow, the voice was vaguely familiar, even though I never heard it before. And it was from that laugh, that I knew the person wasn't Soren at all.

"Why don't you ask your brother?" The person said mockingly, and I stiffened when Alex, Lily, and Soren came into view, their eyes wide with panic.

"Mason! What are you doing?" Alex shouted in disbelief, starting to come towards me, but stopped, when I felt the cold touch of a blade on my neck.

"Come any closer, and she dies," Mason said, his voice completely serious. Alex looked frustrated, but stopped where he was, and Lily made no move to go forward.

Soren, however, took a few steps forward, almost timidly, and I let out a squeak when the blade pressed harder, sending a trickle of blood down my skin.

"Hello, Soren," the person behind me said, and the effect was immediate.

My brother, for some reason, suddenly looked much younger again in the weak moonlight, his face equal amounts of shock, worry, and confusion. The person behind me shifted, and Soren grew even more paler.

"Do.. do you know this guy?" I rasped out, unable to speak clearly due to the pressure on my throat.

I almost didn't believe it when Soren nodded slightly, but we always knew when the other was lying or not. And Soren was definitely not lying.

"Who is he?" Lily asked, and Soren stiffened. When he spoke, his voice was extraordinarily soft, and I was distinctly reminded of his younger voice.

"Skyler. Cody's half-brother," Soren whispered.

And I felt the familiar gut-wrenching sensation of shadowtraveling. But Soren was nowhere near me.

* * *

><p><strong>Ooh, extreme plot twist!<strong>

**Once again, I do not have any time to reply to reviews, but I still read all of them! And I _will_ reply to them next chapter!**

**What do you think of Skyler? **

**What's going to happen to Diana?**

**You'll have to wait until the next chapter! I love cliffhangers!**

**Acknowledgements to The Book-Crazy Otaku Fangirl, Chouxes, MeganAnnabethJackson, FictionalSalvation, and randomer11!**

**Review count is 60!**

**R&R!**

**~~NightShadow99**


	12. Alex: Dark Thoughts

**Dedicated to FictionalSalvation because she's the one who named Skyler!**

* * *

><p><em>Lay your heart down, the end's in sight.<em>  
><em>Conscience begs for you to do what's right.<em>  
><em>Everyday it's still the same dull knife,<em>  
><em>Stab right through and justify your pride.<em>

_-Knives And Pens, Black Veil Brides_

*Alex's POV*

The dream started with me falling, as usual. I've been having that particular dream so many times that I was positive that it was something that was inevitable to happen.

But unlike last time, I didn't wake up halfway. No, it changed into another dream.

_Alex was in a dark cavern-like place, and the air was damp and cold, the place somehow familiar, but not, at the same time. And he knew from experience that it usually meant something bad._

_The cavern stretched seemingly endlessly ahead of him, and the darkness was only penetrated by light flooding in from a hole in the side, from another opening._

_Hesitantly, Alex started to head towards the light, literally, and his pace became faster when he realized that he could hear faint voices spilling from the same direction. Voices that he recognized, especially one in particular._

_Diana._

_Alex skidded to a stop in front of the opening, and peered inside cautiously, barely aware of the fact that since he was in a dream, he would be virtually unseen to anybody inside the cave. _

_But then again, some types of demigods and monsters had the ability to 'see' an eavesdropping demigod. After all, his dad had once told him of both cases; Once, an empousai named Kelli during the Labyrinth Quest, and the second, Nico di Angelo, Diana and Soren's father, directly before the second Titan War._

_ Carefully, the legacy of Poseidon shifted his position so he didn't cast a shadow inside the small cave that opened up in front of him, and listened intently, his eyes blinking as they adjusted to the light generated by a single lamp, resting on a small, wooden table._

_Much to his dismay, Alex noticed that Diana was once again restrained, large chains from both her wrists and ankles embedded into the rock to keep her from escaping, the length of the chains barely enough to allow her to sit on the ground, which she was doing right now._

_She was facing, or glaring, actually, at the person across from her, who was leaning against the wall across from her, his arms crossed. Although the person had his back to him, there was no mistaking the black clothes, nor could Alex forget the aura of Death that this person carried._

_Skyler Posceryn._

_And, if what he had said was correct, Cody's half-brother._

_"-to Hades!" Diana snapped, leaping to her feet, and Alex had to kill a smile forming on his face. Leave it to his girlfriend to basically verbally attack her kidnapper. Which made the smile die soon enough, as he remembered the seriousness of the situation._

_Skyler, however, remained still, with an unnerving calmness rivaling Soren's. He waited until Diana had finished her rant, and while Alex couldn't see his expression, his stance was relaxed, as if he had not been effected in the least._

_"Diana di Angelo."_

_Skyler said at last, and Diana stared at him warily. Fighting to keep his nervousness from rising, Alex watched quietly from his place, ignoring the fact that his legs were starting to feel cramped._

_"What?" Diana said, and Skyler stared at her for a couple of seconds in silence before he resumed speaking. "Do you honestly think I'm the bad guy in this situation?"_

_Diana stared, openmouthed, before she regained her senses enough to spit out, "Well, first, you kidnap me, and second, you chain me to this cave. Feel free to inform me if that doesn't scream, 'bad guy', as you put it," sarcastically._

_"Not when you look from a different perspective," Skyler said._

_Diana glared at him, and crossed her arms, raising an eyebrow skeptically. "Please, enlighten me," she drawled, and Skyler paused._

_"What would you do, if someone caused the death of your sibling?" He asked, and Diana shrugged. "Find that bastard and get revenge," she said, seemingly nonchalantly, but Alex could see by the way her eyes flickered, that Skyler had caught her interest._

_"See? You'd get revenge, too. Then why are you angry at me for trying to avenge my brother?" Skyler pointed out, and Diana frowned, confused. Alex was equally as confused, and he hoped that Skyler would explain before he woke up._

_"Avenge Cody? That's really loyal of you, but why are you taking it out on me?" Diana snapped, and Skyler tensed, the first real outward show of emotion he had made since the start of the dream._

_"Not you." Skyler said curtly, and Diana's eyes widened as she processed the hidden meaning behind the words. "You're kidding me! Soren never did that!"_

_"I do not kid, di Angelo. And Soren _did_ cause Cody's death, no matter what you say." Skyler said, his tone becoming colder all of a sudden. Diana bit her lip, before she continued. _

_"Then... how? Soren was a victim, as well!" She defended her twin, her eyes flashing defiantly. _

_"Not really, if you take the curse into consideration. A curse that, I assure you, was cast upon my family by Lord Hades himself, many generations ago," Skyler hissed, but his voice remained the same._

_"A curse?" Diana said, her curiosity overtaking her despite the situation. _

_"It makes our family members end up killing someone -we cannot prevent it- and live with the guilt, regret, and the horror of what they have done for the rest of their lives. We call the murdered victims, our 'demons', since they endlessly haunt us, till the end." Skyler said, and Diana's eyes widened._

_Alex's breath caught in his throat. If that curse resided in Skyler's family, then Cody was effected, too. But then, why had _Cody_ been the one to die?_

_"My demon, was my only childhood friend. One mistake, one touch, and he died, just like that," Skyler said bitterly, his relaxed posture completely gone. Alex was confused for a split second, before he remembered the aura Skyler seemed to generate. Obviously a demigod of the Underworld, but Alex wasn't sure of who his godly parent was._

_"W-what about Cody, then?" Diana whispered, . _

_Skyler stiffened, before he laughed, bitterness and dark humor lacing his laugh, one that would have only been understood if they knew. _

_"The thing is," he said, "our family never knew that the word 'kill' wasn't always literal. __For Cody, he killed the demon by his own death. He killed the demon's heart, and broke its soul. But if it hadn't been for the curse, Cody would have never had to die,"_

_"Who did he kill?" Diana choked out, sounding as if she already knew the answer. Alex felt a stone drop into his stomach as the bits and pieces started to fall together in a way that, while incomplete, revealed a horrifying picture, grimly confirmed by the demigod in front of him._

_"Him? He was always destined to kill Soren,"_

* * *

><p>"If I ever find Mason, he's going for a one-way trip to Tartarus," I hissed under my breath as I stared at the people in front of us.<p>

Soren had been understandably distraught, and this was only emphasized by the fact that an inky blackness had started to bleed into the blue in his irises, giving an overall scary effect.

Fortunately -and we're going to need all the luck we can get to save Diana and get the Golden Apple in less than eight days, Soren was able to vaguely track Diana by attuning his senses to hers', and now we needed to go to the Underworld.

But to make matters worse, we had just been about to slip into the DOA recording studios, when a wannabe gang decided that it would be a good idea to approach us with the intents to scare us.

"What do you want?" Lily snapped, her patience gone as her amber eyes darted around, taking every bit of the six boys in.

One of them smirked -he looked like the leader, and said to the others, "Hey, we have a feisty chick here!"

They laughed, and one of them stepped forward, the sun flashing off of his brass knuckles. "Don't be like that, babe. We can give you a good time, unlike those losers there," he said cockily, and I resisted the urge to roll my eyes.

Was he honestly so stupid enough to believe that Lily would come with him? Judging from the way they eyed her, probably yes, they were that stupid.

Behind Lily and beside me, Soren had become deathly still, and I could practically feel the fury radiating off of him in cold waves, spreading out even as I watched.

_'Kill them. Kill them all.'_

I nearly jumped out of my skin. Where had that thought come from?

_'They're a distraction, Alex. Killing them would eliminate them much faster than decapitating them,'_ Logic repeated, and I felt a cold sensation in my gut that had nothing to do with the aura Soren was giving off right now.

'No. I can't... They're still mortals, and it wouldn't be fair to them. I'm not that kind of person,'I tried to clamp down on the sudden rising fear.

_'Is that what you really think?'_ Logic whispered, its voice suddenly shifting, changing to that of a malicious tone. It didn't resemble my own voice anymore, and I began to wonder of what was actually going on.

"Leave her alone."

Soren's ice cold voice cut through my thoughts, and I focused my attention at the current situation, trying not to show how my mental conversation with my own self had shaken me. What was wrong with me?

"Oh?" Leader snorted, and the cronies behind him laughed, leering at Lily who glared back defiantly. "What are you going to do about it when we don't, _Emo_ _Boy_? Going to cut yourself?"

My eyes widened, and Lily tensed when Soren didn't make a move, which usually indicated that Soren was getting dangerously close to the edge.

The sky above us started to get ominously dark, and it made quite an impression on the mortals, because as we all knew, the sky doesn't suddenly get darker in the morning, with no reason at all.

One of them was either dumb or suicidal, because he said, "Aww, look at that! Emo Boy is about to cry! Is he going to cwy for Mommy?" He looked disappointed when Soren remained impassive, but me, having known him since childhood, knew that Soren was weighing the pros and cons of attacking them or not.

"Shut up," Lily spat, and Brass Knuckles -hey, I don't know his name!- smirked. "Come on, you can't possibly be defending the pathetic emo!"

"You're not worth my time," Soren snorted, turning away to head towards the DOA studio entrance. His face openly held equal amounts of amusement and disinterest, which I knew was a facade to conceal the seething anger underneath.

They looked shocked for a moment, before a guy stepped sideways, blocking Soren. "Do you really think we're just going to let you go? You're on our territory, and nobody leaves without paying the consequences,"

"Look," I spoke up for the first time, and Leader raised an eyebrow. "We're not interested in any games you're attempting to play with us, and we're in kind of a hurry, so just leave us alone and forget you ever saw us. It'll be healthier for you," I continued, and they snickered, sizing us up.

Since we were all rather on the lithe and lean side from training at camp, and Soren especially more so, due to his vegetarian diet, I knew that, physically, we looked non-threatening.

Leader scowled, which made him look quite a bit like a ferret, as he said, "Don't underestimate us," he spat defensively, and I allowed a complete eye-roll, perfected from years of living with the di Angelos', who all basically _specialized_ in antagonizing annoying people.

"Ditto for us, too," Lily said, and Brass Knuckles laughed disbelivingly. "You're seriously going to let them talk to us like that? Let's teach them a lesson," he addressed Leader directly, and Leader glared at me.

Meanwhile, I was growing more and more restless as my more rational side realized that we were going in circles with this talking, and I could practically feel the weight of the time ticking by as we started to run out of time to get Diana.

_'See? It's wasting our time humoring these arrogant mortals. Just get over with it, Alex.'_ Logic said, and I shook my head, probably looking like a crazy person for the others on the outside.

'I'm not going to kill them, if that's what you think,' I snapped, and somehow, I could sense skepticism, though I didn't know if it was from me or Logic, but then again, we were technically the same person, me.

_'Remind us to tell you that when your quest fails and you destroy the world, letting Diana, Soren, Lily, and everyone else at camp, down.'_ Logic said darkly.

I could see Lily looking at me worriedly, but the conversation between me and myself was getting more intense, with frustration and exasperation mixed in on both sides.

'I won't let them down,' I growled. _'You're right, because you already did. For all you know, Diana's already dead, and it's your fault. You're letting your emotions control your Athena senses again, and it's messing up the quest. Use your mind, not your heart, Alex.' _Logic chided.

'Diana's not dead!' I protested, but I couldn't think of anything else to defend myself from pure logic. A heavy sense of dread began to build up in me, as I realized that my emotions may have possibly ruined any chance of succeeding the quest.

_'She might as well be, with all the time you're wasting,'_ Logic said coldly. My thoughts, usually organized and clear, began to grow muddled and foggy, which scared me worse than Logic itself.

I pressed my palms to my head, trying to focus through the headache building up, and the sounds of Lily and Soren talking with the wannabes only made it worse, and even harder to get a sense of clarity.

_'You're running out of time, Alex.'_

'Just give me a chance to get my thoughts together,'

_'It's your fault. It always is.'_

'No, it's not. I'm trying to not draw attention to us,'

_'Which already failed, considering the fact that the gang managed to find you.'_

'But the mortal police-'

_'-Are so pathetic that they'd never find you.'_

'I don't want my friends to become the subject of a nation-wide manhunt,'

_'Get your priorities in order, Alex. Manhunt, or WWIII?'_

'I-' I started to gasp out, slowly starting to feel more and more overwhelmed by the onslaught of the verbal attacks.

_'Your fault. Your failure. You're letting your friends down. You're betraying Diana every second you let these mortals talk,' _Logic repeated what it said earlier, and it slowly started to build up, becoming a continuous chant that brought head-splitting shocks with every word.

_'Betrayer. Traitor. Failure. Pathetic-'_

'No-'

_'Yourfaultyourfaultyourfault-'_ I could feel my walls crumbling down, and black and yellow spots started to dance in my vision, obscuring everything.

"Alex-" Lily started, and Soren turned around, just noticing the situation. Leader smirked triumphantly.

"Well, well, well, looks like surfer dude is having a metal breakdown. Is he scwared?" He mocked in a baby voice, and the boys behind him laughed in agreement.

But by that time, everything had started to blur, and I only saw patches of color, and dark shapes replacing the scene in front of me.

Leader took a step forward. "Guys, let's teach them a lesson they won't forget," he said.

And that's when the last remnants of my mental restraint, dangerously weakened from days of Logic attacking them, crumbled.

I snapped.

The last thing I remembered before everything faded out, was a strange sense of dark pleasure.

* * *

><p><strong>One of my greatest cliffhangers yet, rivaling the one compared to when Soren nearly died in BCSW! Do you remember?<strong>

**What's happening to Alex? Can anybody guess?**

**And what you you think of Diana and Skyler's conversation? Feel any sympathy for Skyler? He's one of my favorite antagonists, I admit.**

**What do you think of Logic? Do any of you overthink things like Alex and Logic? I do, which is why it's so easy for me to write it.**

**Logic is a much colder version of my own overthinking mind, just FYI.**

**I'm sorry to tell you that I probably won't be able to reply to your reviews anymore by AN -I don't have time anymore, but don't worry, I'll reply to them via PM!**

**Review count is 66!**

**R&R!**

**~~NightShadow99**


	13. Leila: Cold Betrayal

**Dedicated to The Book-Crazy Otaku Fangirl for being the first reviewer of the previous chapter!**

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><p><em>What the hell's going on<em>  
><em>Have you gone undercover?<em>  
><em>You were here, now you're not<em>  
><em>Been replaced by another<em>  
><em>Cause it's still your face<em>  
><em>But there's something strange<em>  
><em>Not the one I remember<em>  
><em>Can you please explain<em>  
><em>Did they wipe your brain?<em>  
><em>Is this gonna be forever?<em>

_-Freaking Me Out, Simple Plan  
><em>_(feat. Alex Gaskarth from All Time Low)_

*Leila's POV*

No sooner had the leader said those words, Alex's eyes, which had been shifting back and forth between sea-green and grey during the entire time, turned stormy grey.

A sudden calm came over Alex, like the calm before a storm, and he straightened, eyeing the leader with a certain degree of contempt he usually never possessed.

The ground under our feet began to shake, tremors racing across the pavement in the beginnings on an earthquake, and for the first time, the leader actually looked scared.

Soren looked mildly startled, and I saw something cross his face before his eyes widened, and he reached out towards Alex, who twisted away from his hand.

"You want a lesson? I'll teach you a lesson," Alex said coldly, which was completely out of character for him, and the leader actually took a step back, before remembering that he was supposed to look tough.

"Well? Get him!" He ordered, and the rest of them charged towards Alex, who just stood there, an almost bored expression on his face as he watched them.

"Alex! What are you doing?" I shouted, heading forwards, but I was soon intercepted by a boy with brass knuckles, which flashed in the dim light as he smirked.

"I don't think so," he taunted, holding my wrist in a painfully tight grip. I couldn't use my powers without completely giving us away, so my training instincts kicked in.

Within moments, I had twisted the boy's arm behind his back in a rather painful position, and I had my other arm around him in a headlock.

"Never underestimate a girl," I hissed in his ear before with a sharp jerk, I shoved him away from me, spraining his wrist in the process. He growled, staggering to his feet and lumbered towards me, but I swiftly knocked out his feet from under him with a kick, and down he went.

Spinning on my heel, I grabbed another guy's arm as he raised it to punch Soren while his back was turned, and yanked on it hard, forcing him to lose his balance and fall.

Using the momentum, I flung him in a wide circle before letting go, where he slammed against the building wall, and slid down, dazed.

I turned around, and ducked as a fist flew over my head, and was about to retaliate, when Soren did a spinning wheel kick and knocked him out with a single blow.

I stared, openmouthed at him, while Soren just shrugged, and said, "I generally prefer kicks to punches -they have more power,"

Soren abruptly cut himself off, and returned his attention to the person who had sneaked up behind him, and did a back kick before turning around using the momentum, and brought down an ax kick with his other heel on the guy's collarbone, using enough force to break it.

But then I caught sight of Alex.

Alex had stood still until the last moment, when he had suddenly exploded into motion, fighting three at once. But he didn't seem to look at a disadvantage, as he threw a punch at the first boy's face, and jerked his arm back to jab his elbow into the second guy's solar plexus.

He fell down, wheezing, and Alex used the temporary opening to give himself space for a vicious side kick at the first person, and sent him staggering back, before he fell to his knees.

As for the third, the leader, he had tried to slip away in the chaos, but Alex spun around and swept out his feet from under him with a low kick, and he fell backwards, scrambling to get up.

But Alex instantly had him in a choke hold, and the leader kicked and flailed uselessly, struggling to get out of the suffocating grip.

"Alex!" I screamed, finding my voice, but Alex ignored me, giving no indication that he had ever heard me, even when I was clearly in earshot. I started running forward, but Soren was faster, getting to him before I did.

"Alex, you're killing him!" I cried out, but Alex resisted when Soren tried to pry his arms off of the mortal, whose face was slowly turning red as he gasped for breath, his movements getting weaker as seconds went by.

"... He needs to die," Alex muttered darkly as I reached him, his dark grey eyes colder and harder than I had ever seen them before. The mortal's lips were slowly turning blue, and I was about to get him off manually, when Soren beat me to it as usual, swinging a fist towards Alex's face.

Instinctively, Alex raised his other arm to block his face, and I used that moment of weakness to pull the restraining arm away from the mortal's neck, and he flopped to the ground, wheezing for breath and clutching his neck as the tinge of blue slowly left him.

Soren jumped away when Alex suddenly snarled and lashed out, narrowly missing him by centimeters. "Alex, what are you _doing?_" Soren said, as he grasped both of Alex's shoulders, shaking him roughly.

Tsunami materialized in Alex's hand, but before I could warn Soren, Alex suddenly gasped for breath, the blood draining from his face as the sea-green color rushed back into his eyes, obscuring all traces of the previous grey.

He slumped forward, and I moved to catch him, since it obviously looked like Soren wasn't going to hold him up. The sword fell from his hands, clattering to the cement ground loudly, and Soren picked it up, keeping it out of Alex's reach just in case.

"Alex, what's going on?" I asked, pulling away a little to look at him in the face. Alex still looked pale, but he managed to stand on his own, his eyebrows furrowed into a frown as he surveyed the scene all around us, and the leader gasping for breath on the ground.

"What... what happened?" Alex asked, and my eyes widened, while Soren's eyebrows shot up into an expression of surprise. It was unlike of Alex to ever forget things, much less something that happened barely a minute ago.

"You mean, you don't remember anything?" I said, and Alex shook his head, looking more and more like himself again. "All I remember is Leader Boy telling the others to teach us a lesson. And now suddenly, I'm waking to see _this_."

He made a vague gesture around him, and I met Soren's eyes, who looked faintly concerned.

"What happened, Lily?" He asked me, and I looked at Soren, silently communicating. _Should I tell him?_ Soren barely hesitated before shaking his head. _No._

"Umm.. you passed out a few minutes into the attack for an unknown reason, so Soren and I finished off the rest," I said lamely, and Soren rolled his eyes at my feeble attempt at a lie.

Alex groaned, rubbing his forehead as he stepped away from me to get some space. "Gods, that's embarrassing," he muttered, and I forced out a laugh, at the same time wondering about what had happened earlier.

We stood there in awkward silence for a few minutes, before Alex spoke up again, wincing. "The police are going to find us soon, so let's get out of here and to the Underworld,"

Soren didn't bother replying as he turned around to walk ahead, me falling into place beside him, and Alex following up behind.

* * *

><p>"And why should I give you a free passage?" Charon said belligerently as he leaned back in his chair, feet up on his desk.<p>

The ghosts behind us shifted constantly and chittered in a high pitch among themselves, filling in the otherwise empty silence that stretched on between us and Charon.

Alex groaned in exasperation, and I sighed, frustrated at the obnoxious Underworld boatman.

Soren leaned forward, resting his arms leisurely against the podium, staring at Charon directly in the eyes unwaveringly, the epitome of calmness.

"Do you know who I am, Charon?" He asked in a deadly soft voice, and Charon frowned, peering at him. "I admit, you look familiar... have you been here before? A reborn spirit, maybe?" Soren's eye twitched slightly, and I had to bite back a smile.

"Two words. Di Angelo. Now do you still have any objections?" Soren said in the same, quiet tone, and Charon stared for a moment before he went pale, stammering as he got up.

"N-no, sir! You're Nico di Angelo's son! Of c-course I know!" Charon stumbled over his words as he frantically made his way over to the doors of the elevator to reveal a nearly-full car.

Soren smiled faintly, but in the lights, it looked menacing. "Then you must know that my father is your employer's son?" He continued, looking as if he was thoroughly enjoying himself watching the millenniums-old god cower in terror.

"Y-yes, yes, yes!" Charon said, practically bodily throwing us into the elevator in his haste. "Imagine how angry my father would be when he discovers that you hindered his son from entering his own domain." Soren said calmly, and I suppressed a giggle watching Charon squirm under Soren's words.

"Of course not, sir!" Charon said, and shut the doors, putting a key card into a slot on the elevator panel. The elevator started to descend rapidly, probably even more so due to Soren.

The rest of the ride was uneventful, save when we actually entered the Underworld. Charon's fancy clothes morphed into a long, dark robe, and he started to become transparent, turning into a shape not unlike a skeleton.

Irrational panic flooded through me, when I looked out on the endless stretch of craggy rocks and black volcanic sand ahead of me, of the Underworld and its countless ghosts and monsters, as far as you could get from my own domain of light and fire. I shouldn't be here. I wasn't dead. I wanted to get out of here as fast as possible.

As if sensing my rising hysteria, Soren's cool hand slid into my own, a reassuring presence, and while in other circumstances, this would've made me blush, but I was too relieved to care right now.

Alex was standing in front of us, his posture tense as he looked at the Underworld, and his hand gripped the sides of the wooden barge in an subconscious attempt to steady himself.

We disembarked soon, and Alex smirked when Soren said nonchalantly over his shoulder, "Thank you. Maybe I'll mention a pay raise,"

At first, we started following the ghosts up a well-worn path, but somewhere along the trail, Soren led us off the track, towards a different section of the Underworld.

I didn't know if it was because we were alive, or because of Soren, but nobody bothered us, even when I accidentally bumped into a skeleton security guard and stumbled away, mumbling apologizes under my breath while I held back a scream.

The way Soren was leading us, was becoming more and more desolate and deserted, and once out of the few lights provided by Hades' palace, even more darker and gloomier.

"It can't get any worse than this," Alex said, looking up at the dense fog-covered ceiling overhead, showing a few wicked sharp stalacites glowing a faint grey in the dark.

"You'd be surprised," Soren mumbled to me, and I laughed, and Alex looked at me weirdly as he continued to scan our surroundings, constantly alert for any signs of attack from monsters.

I checked to see that Alex was some distance behind us, before I looked at Soren, saying a question that had been on my mind for some time. "Do you know what actually happened back there? And why can't I tell him what he did?" Soren walked for a few steps in silence, before he spoke up.

"Honestly, I don't know, either. But it's not that it never happened before, but it'd never been for so long, and so completely. He's a bit like Seth, in a way." Soren said, frowning slightly. "And we can't tell him because if we do, he'll spend the rest of the quest constantly worrying, and we can't afford to be distracted, Lily."

"What do you mean, he's like Seth? Seth never did anything like that," I pointed out, and Soren's eyes darkened slightly. "Did you ever notice how Seth's eye colors change constantly? From electric blue to brown?" he questioned, and I nodded.

"Seth has Bipolar Disorder, Lily, and it shows up in his eyes." Soren said.

"They're brown when he's in a depressive state, and electric blue when he has a hypomanic episode. Annabeth thinks it's because of our parents' nature, the sky and the underworld, and the two opposite sides create a psychological conflict inside him," he explained.

"Then what about Alex? You say it's not the first time, but why haven't I ever seen it before? And Alex's always calm and collected, he doesn't show any signs of being bipolar." I said.

"I don't know, Lily." Soren said, and his tired tone led me to drop the subject, though I was bubbling with questions, like usual.

"Lily, Soren," Alex said suddenly, making us both look at him, and saw that he was staring at something far off into the distance, anger, confusion, and shock spreading over his features.

And when I saw what he was looking at -or _who_, actually, shock burst through me, and I stared at the two people in the distance, coming closer with every step they took.

"_T__raditore_," Soren hissed under his breath, as Alex spat out a few choice words in several languages I didn't recognize, although at one point, Alex said a few uncomplimentary words in Ancient Greek and Latin.

"Looking for Diana?" A female voice sneered, and the figure beside her laughed, the familiar taunting tone that made Alex clench his fists.

I recognized the two people as Andrea and Mason.

* * *

><p><strong>Ooh, did you see that coming?<strong>

**Remember, back in chapter 6, 'Soren: Demigod Rivalry', Alyssa mentioned that Andrea was missing? Did anyone see it?**

**Why do you think Andrea's with Mason? And no, it's not an Andrea/Mason pairing, thank you very much.**

_**Traditore**_** means 'Traitor, betrayer' in Italian.**

**What do you think happened to Alex? What's with the grey eyes?**

**Did anybody laugh at the conversation between Soren and Charon? I sure did!**

**I'll reply to most of your reviews by PM from now on, but for those whose PM is disabled, or don't have an account, I'll reply to them here.**

* * *

><p><strong>{Replies to Reviews}<strong>

_**Guest****- **_**I know being called 'evil' is a compliment, especially for writers! Don't worry, I'm not offended! I hope you enjoy this story, and look forward writing more chapters to torture my readers!**

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><p><strong>And if anybody didn't understand the thing with Alex and Seth, here's the explanation:<strong>

**Diana, Soren, and Seth's parents are the son of Hades and daughter of Zeus, or essentially, the earth and sky. That's ought to cause conflict, right?**

**It's kind of my own way to make sure that legacies aren't all superpowerful like some other writers make them to be, because I dislike that kind of stuff. What's the point of having a character who can do everything?**

**Diana and Soren aren't effected because they specialize in only _one_ sphere of power, unlike Seth and Alex.**

**The difference between Seth and Alex, is that since Seth's powers are watered down, the problems that come with having dual powers are watered down, too, so Seth has a mild case of Bipolar disorder, which I had kept hinting at during the entire series.**

**Alex's 'problems' are a bit more explosive and volatile, since he's at full power from both sides. So the side-effects are equally as bad... or that's my policy in writing characters.**

**Just ask me if you have any more questions, and review! Review count is 70!**

**R&R!**

**~~NightShadow99**


	14. Soren, Diana: Shattered Trust

**Dedicated to The Argonaut because he's a new face! Plus, he's a rare species -a fanboy. No other reasons needed.**

**Special thanks to FictionalSalvation and The Book-Crazy Otaku Fangirl for suggesting 'Demons' by Imagine Dragons.**

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><p><em>I wanna hide the truth<em>  
><em>I wanna shelter you<em>  
><em>But with the beast inside<em>  
><em>There's nowhere we can hide<em>  
><em>-<em>  
><em>When you feel my heat<em>  
><em>Look into my eyes<em>  
><em>It's where my demons hide<em>  
><em>It's where my demons hide<em>  
><em>Don't get too close<em>  
><em>It's dark inside<em>  
><em>It's where my demons hide<em>  
><em>It's where my demons hide<em>

_-Demons, Imagine Dragons_

*Soren's POV*

I can't say that I was surprised.

Shocked, yes. Disappointed, angry, also yes. But surprised? No.

Mason had already proven himself to be a traitor. And when Alyssa had IM'ed us that Andrea was missing, let's just say that it takes me a long time to trust a person, if at all. Lily's the only exception, she always is.

And a person missing, just when we're starting our quest? My dad always used to tell me that nothing was just 'a coincidence', especially more so in the demigod world, where anything and everything could happen. Such as, the betrayal of someone you considered to be on your side.

Lily and Alex, however, had a rather different reaction than mine.

"Andrea? But... but I thought-" Lily stammered, and Andrea scowled, making her look like a pouting china doll. "Well, you thought wrong, _Leila_." She spat, her ice blue eyes venomous.

"How could you?" Alex said simply, and I saw the slightest hint of pain flash across her face before it went away, making me think that I'd imagined it in the first place. Alex's eyes were wide with dismay and disbelief, and I could tell that it hit him hard, harder than normal.

While Andrea wasn't particularly close to Alex -ironically, _I_ was the one who had spent the most time with her- but Alex's fatal flaw of personal loyalty made him especially susceptible to acts of blatant betrayal from the ones he considered a friend.

"I'm not surprised," I said coldly, and this time, I saw Andrea flinch visibly, though she covered it up by turning her face away.

"Andrea... What about Alyssa? She's been worried for you," Lily said weakly, and Andrea didn't answer, her face slipping into a mask of icy indifference, which wasn't that hard for her to do, considering who her godly parent is.

"Enough talk," Mason said, stepping forward, and Alex glared at him with loathing, making his eyes a dark emerald. "You little-"

"_-Bastardo, culo, figlio di puttana._" I offered helpfully, and Lily's lips twitched up at the corners despite the serious situation we were in. Mason glared at me, but I stared back calmly, letting him know that I wasn't fazed in the least.

"You're going to come with us," Mason ground out through gritted teeth, and Alex started to go for his sword, all the while never breaking eye contact. "What makes you think we'll go without a fight?" He said.

At that, Mason suddenly laughed, and Andrea smirked, crossing her arms. "Haven't you forgotten the reason you're all here in the first place? The last time I checked, a certain legacy of Zeus was taken by a son of Thanatos, who, as you might know, can take a person's life with a single touch,"

Absolute outrage broke out on Alex's features, though he schooled his face into a slightly more controlled one as he snarled, "If you did anything to her, I'm going to personally kill you,"

"I think Skyler's going to be faster than you, Jackson," Mason sneered, and Alex took a deep breath, obviously struggling to keep himself in check and stop himself from possibly causing my sister's death.

"Not faster than me," Lily hissed, her pretty features in an expression of rage and righteous anger.

Wait, did I just say pretty? Please just ignore that last part. I most definitely did _not_ say pretty. I meant pre... pr... You know what? Just forget it. I hate my ADD.

Skyler's name sent a tremor through me, even as I tried to hide it.

As much as I didn't want to admit it, Skyler had been the last person I'd expected to become my enemy. Because, not only had I not known he was a demigod, too, it was also the fact that Skyler had been one of the few people I had trusted.

It just goes to show how easily trust can be shattered in a single instant. Actually, I'd more than trusted him. I'd... I'd _idolized_ him.

Skyler, as Cody's older brother, had sort of taken me under his wing, too, much in the same way he had cared for Cody. I was like a second younger brother to him, and I had considered him the older brother I'd never had.

Every time I went over to Cody's house, Skyler would come out of his room to spend some time with us, and since I was young then, I had felt a bit flattered that someone older than me, an actual 'teenager', chose to play with us.

He'd taught me how to move silently, sneak up on someone, draw, defend myself from bullies, and create a rep that would make most people leave me alone. Skyler had basically been one of the main influences on my life, and had given the most impact on who I was today, aside from my family.

My personality, my small habits, my slightly odd fetishes... they had all come from Skyler. I had looked up to him, and now I was facing one of the worst betrayals of my life.

Now, I didn't know what to do.

"Really? Fortunately, we have other measures to make sure you come with us," Mason said, and almost right after, I heard the distant sound of leathery wings flapping above us, getting closer all the while.

"_Arai_," Alex identified almost immediately, glancing up, and Lily paled. _Arai_ were the one monster we couldn't fight, not unless we wanted a dozen curses piled upon us, with no way of knowing if they were life-threatening or not.

"Kill one, and get a curse for free. Yippee," Alex said sarcastically, his hand still on his watch, uncertain whether to risk attacking and getting cursed to Hades and back. But then again, we're already there.

Andrea raised an eyebrow. "Having second thoughts, Leila?" She said, directing her words to the daughter of Leto beside me, who looked downright furious.

"Yes," Lily said evenly. "I'm having second thoughts on having ever considered you as a friend."

Andrea narrowed her eyes, before she looked up, at the cloud of _arai_ descending down upon us. "Unless you want to become laden with curses, I suggest you follow. If not, I'm quite happy to let you die in pain," she said curtly, flicking her hands at us.

I felt an icy coldness creep up my wrists, and looked down to see that my hands were in ice shackles, and they were unusually sturdy for regular ice.

"Go on, jailbirds," Mason snickered, shoving Alex roughly, and Alex whipped around to glare at him, but I shook my head.

_Save it for later. Right now, we need to find Diana._ Alex closed his eyes, and opened them again, taking in a deep breath.

"Well? Go on," Alex sighed.

* * *

><p>*Diana's POV*<p>

He was _gorgeous_.

And before there are any misunderstandings I'd rather not have to explain to Alex, I do _not_ like Skyler in any romantic way whatsoever.

For me, Alex Jackson is the 'One', no matter how sickeningly and disgustingly Aphrodite-like that sounds. Never ask me to repeat that in front of Alex, though. No need to unnecessarily raise his ego.

Skyler wasn't hot, or handsome, or anything like that. _Beautiful_ was the correct word. Beautiful in the way I'd always imagined an angel would look like.

The way only a son of Thanatos could look like.

"Diana, there's no such thing as good or evil," Skyler said in response to my previous question. "It's only a matter of what _side_ you choose, and _what_ you work for,"

"Oh gee," I said sarcastically, "I choose to be on the side that wants world war because I'm bored!" I sat back down on the ground, my legs aching from standing for so long.

Skyler gave me a disapproving look that kind of reminded me of what Alex used to look at Amy, like a reprimanding older brother.

"I've waited for more than three years, Diana. And it's not because I'm bored, it's because, for me, disrupting your quest is the only way I can get revenge. It's not like you'd be any different," he said, and I snorted.

"Yeah right."

"Let's see how you react when one of your siblings die, then. It's rather surprising to see how far you can go for revenge," Skyler said nonchalantly, and I stared at him. It was a little unnatural of how he could so casually talk of someone dying.

Scratch that. It was unnerving to see how much he was like _Soren_. Both dark, pale, and with an aura of death, except Skyler's were more acute. Both quiet, composed, and had a dry sense of humor, if not dark.

"You're just like Soren."

The words escaped me before I had a chance to think it through, and that caught Skyler's attention. His pale blue eyes looked up at me, and they held a multitude of thoughts that I'd never be able to fully understand.

"It's the other way around, Diana. _He's_ just like me," Skyler said, much to my surprise. For an instant, I thought I saw regret flash in his eyes, but it was gone just as quickly as it came.

"Hey, but why are you talking to me? I thought kidnappers weren't supposed to be nice?" I blurted out, mentally wincing as I did so. Why, ADHD, do you have to do this to me?

Skyler gave a half-smile, holding a mild amusement. "I _could_ just leave you here, but... it's nice to talk to someone, even if you're on the opposite side and you hate my very existence," he admitted quietly, and I gaped.

"Did anybody ever tell you that you're confusing?"

"Sure." Skyler said, returning his attention to the lamp on his table.

As I sat there quietly, I observed the way he sat in his chair, the way how _tired_ he looked, how he looked utterly defenseless, as if talking to me had taken something out of him.

And the thing was, I understood him, no matter how strange that might sound like.

I'd always thought that I was on the 'good' side, but after talking with Skyler, I no longer knew if the line between good and evil was strong as I'd imagined, or if there was a line at all. Grey existed for a reason, neither completely white nor black.

And it wasn't that hard to imagine myself in his place. I remembered the way I had felt when Seth had disappeared, the near blind panic consuming me as I searched for him in the cold winter. The way I had cursed the person who had taken him in the first place, and how I had wanted to find him... and kill him.

But the main difference was, I wasn't willing to go as far as to cause World War III. I'd seek revenge in some other way, a way that wouldn't drag the others into my business.

If I could understand him, maybe he could understand me, too.

"Skyler," I started, and he looked up. "Can't you forgive Soren? He never meant to cause Cody's death, and it struck him hard as it did for you. He loved him, you know," I said, and Skyler sighed deeply.

There was a long silence, before he finally spoke up. "I don't know, Diana. I've held grudges for so long, that sometimes, it's hard to give up on them." Skyler said, ceasing his finger tapping on the table.

"Soren's my brother, you know. I don't want to lose him in the same way you lost Cody," I said, a pleading note creeping into my voice. I didn't need to fake it, because every bit of it was genuine.

Skyler didn't answer, his eyes far-off in the distance. Inside, I tried to stop the rising fear inside me, fear for Soren.

When Skyler spoke, however, it wasn't a reply to my words. "You'd better be ready, Diana, because no matter what happens, you can't avoid Death."

I blinked. Damn him and his ability to be cryptic and mysterious. Is that where Soren got it from, too? "What do you mean?" I said, and Skyler raised an eyebrow.

"Because there's going to be more than one death in your immediate future."

_Death by the hand of one closest to heart._

* * *

><p><strong>Nothing much happened in this chapter, just more like a filler. But I somehow manged to fit in a cliffhanger! That's one of my annoying talents you guys and girls will have to put up with!<strong>

**BTW, 'bastardo, culo, figlio di puttana' means 'bastard, ass, son of a bitch'. Or at least that's what I got when I Googled Italian swearwords.**

**I promise, more action in the next chapter, and besides, the story is just barely a third way through!**

**After all, Alex, Soren, and Lily need to get Diana, and they still need to find the Golden Apple, in just eight days!**

**What do you think of Skyler, now? Can you sympathize, like Diana did? **

**Do you think Diana managed to convince Skyler to abandon his grudge, or does it go more deeper than she thought?**

**Whose deaths are Diana going to have to face? **

**Review count is 77!**

**R&R!**

**~~NightShadow99**


	15. Alex: Meaningless Apology

**Dedicated to FictionalSalvation for the song suggestion, 'Save You' by Simple Plan! It's one of my favourite songs!**

* * *

><p><em>Sometimes I wish I could save you.<em>  
><em>And there's so many things that I want you to know,<em>  
><em>I won't give up till it's over.<em>  
><em>If it takes you forever, I want you to know,<em>  
><em>That if you fall, stumble down,<em>  
><em>I'll pick you up off the ground.<em>  
><em>If you lose faith in you,<em>  
><em>I'll give you strength to pull through.<em>  
><em>Tell me you won't give up cause I'll be waiting if you fall.<em>  
><em>Oh, you know I'll be there for you.<em>

_-Save You, Simple Plan_

*Alex's POV*

"What do you want, anyway? What's the point of keeping us here?" Lily said, and Andrea rolled her eyes. "Quite simple, really," Mason said.

"I know you're on the quest for the Golden Apple, and its success leads to Leila's loss of immortality -which, I can't imagine someone would ever want to do- and its failure leads to World War III, or the second Trojan War.

"All of us have different vendettas against you, but a single goal. To stop the quest from succeeding." Mason said matter-of-factly.

I tried to quell down the anger that rose in me every time I was somewhere near Mason. I couldn't melt the ice shackles, because Andrea was stopping me from breaking out and wrecking havoc, which I had really wanted to do ever since we were herded to where Diana was chained.

_'Focus, Alex. Anger only clouds your thoughts,'_ Logic said, and I scanned our surroundings again. There had to be some way out, because I've always lived on the policy that if there's a way in, there's always a way out.

It hasn't let me down yet, so I was going to stick to it.

And... bingo. We were in an underground cave in the Underworld, and somehow, somewhere above us, there was water.

But no sooner had I noticed it, Mason smirked. "Don't even think about using the water here, Jackson, because it's Lethe water. And you know what Lethe does to you, right? And the ground is unstable, so a small earthquake could send the entire supply crashing down on all of you, and I doubt that you could shield them all,"

Clever of him to situate Underworld water around us, so that it couldn't revitalize me like regular water did. Instead, it would drain me, and from the amount of energy I was running on, it would have disastrous consequences.

We were chained in the same way Diana was, giving us barely enough space to sit down on the ground.

Skyler hadn't moved from his place near the wall, and Mason was in the center of the cave, looking pleased with himself, and that expression alone almost made me want to drown him in the Lethe.

Almost. I wasn't that cruel, or heartless. _'You'd be surprised, you know, at the things you_ could_ do_,' Logic laughed, its every word like ice cold frost.

'You don't know me, then,'I said. _'Actually, I know you better than you know yourself,'_ Logic said. It was seriously starting to get on my nerves.

But Mason had missed a vital detail; He'd underestimated me. He didn't know the lengths I would go for my friends, and especially Diana.

And Soren could shadowtravel, and we were in his main source of power.

Slowly, I tried to sense the water, to use it. But aside from a sudden dizzy spell and a throbbing headache, there was no response.

I tried again, and the result was the same. For some reason, I couldn't use my abilities.

And then I remembered the events earlier today... the part I where couldn't remember. If my eyes had been grey back then, it would explain why I couldn't use my powers right now. It took a full day for me to 'recharge' after something like that.

And right now, it meant that I'd have to rely on other ways to get out.

"What vendettas?" Diana said, and once again, I felt the relief that came from knowing that she was okay, and relatively unharmed. I didn't know what I would do, had the situation been any worse, but I doubt that the results would be any good.

"I, for one, have a personal grudge with Jackson," Mason spat, and I glanced up at him. "For what? I don't recall doing anything to you," I said, and Mason scowled.

"_I_ used to be the best sword fighter in camp! But _you_ had to come along and ruin everything! You, with your picture-perfect parents, the hero and heroine of Olympus, the Savior of Rome, and whatever else! _You'_re nothing special, yet everybody flocks to you! What do you have that I don't?" He snapped, and my eyes widened.

"I'm not a psychotic asshole like you, for one." I said acidly, already knowing that it would be of little effect on Mason. He growled under his breath, glaring furiously at me while his hands tightened around his metal cylinder.

"Andrea, what have we ever done to you?" Diana asked Andrea, and she narrowed her eyes. "I _hate_ Leila," she said, and Soren looked at her in surprise.

"Why?" I asked, but that seemed to infuriate her even more. She stalked towards Lily, who stared defiantly back. "Because-"

"You were jealous," Lily finished, and Diana looked taken aback, while I looked confusedly at Soren, who shrugged.

"Because he rejected me, and he loved you! Even after you broke his heart, he still looked only at _you_!" Andrea hissed, her eyes bright with angry tears.

"Who's-"

"You, Soren. Who else would it be?" Diana said softly.

* * *

><p>"Are you okay?" Diana asked me, and I managed a tight nod. "Yep, just peachy," I said, giving her a small smile, but she didn't seem to believe me.<p>

To tell the truth, I felt terrible.

Mason had decided to take his anger out on me, and as a result, I could feel several new bruises, and I was bleeding from some scratches he'd inflicted. It was rather humiliating, not to mention painful.

"We're going to get out, Di." I told her in an attempt to reassure her, but she had barely given me a response, when there was a gunshot, and Diana jumped back from the bullet hole near her feet.

"Get back. Or next time, I won't miss," Andrea said coldly, holding a Kahr P380 semi-automatic pistol.

It was a model specially modified by the Hephaestus campers to hold Celestial Bronze, and also it happened to be Andrea's preferred weapon of arms.

And before I could blink, she'd tossed one of the guns -she had twin guns- to Mason, who came over to me with a smirk on his face.

"I know that your fatal flaw is your loyalty to your friends. But who are you the least loyal to?" He taunted, taking out his javelin in his other hand.

"What do you mean?" I asked, a cold feeling dropping in my gut as I looked at the handgun. Mason glanced at Andrea, and fast as lightning, she'd raised her second gun, and fired, the bullet dangerously close to Diana's hand.

She flinched, jerking sharply at her chains as she instinctively shied away. Soren snarled, his eyes blazing with fury, and Lily stared, wide-eyed, at Andrea, who refused to meet any of our eyes.

"My revenge, to you, isn't going to be that simple as Skyler's plan of deterring you, Jackson. No, I have something better," he said, his hazel eyes taunting and malicious.

"Choose who will die today, Jackson. Show me where your loyalties lie," he whispered, and I glared. "No way in Hades, moron," I hissed, though terror raced through me. I couldn't let any of my friends die.

Mason gestured, and with another bang, Lily shrieked, falling to the ground as the bullet hit her leg. Soren cried out, lunging forward against the chains as he struggled to reach out for her, but the chains were too short. The metal cut into his wrists, making a thin line of blood trickle down his arm, staining the chains ruby red.

Skyler watched unemotionally from his spot against the wall, his eyes unreadable as he looked at us.

"Do you really have to go as far as to kill one of them?" He spoke up quietly, and Mason whipped his head around to glare at the older demigod.

"Don't tell me that you're too much of a coward," he spat, and Skyler's pale blue eyes hardened, becoming as cold and sharp as ice shards.

"Wanting to prevent unnecessary death is not cowardly. As the son of Thanatos, it would do you well to heed my words, _kid_," Skyler said curtly, and we all stared in surprise at him.

Diana, however, had a small, barely there relieved smile on her face. It made me think that maybe, Diana had done something to convince Skyler.

The amusement drained out of Mason's eyes. "Choose, or _she_ dies," he snarled, leveling the gun in his hand, straight towards Diana.

I couldn't let her die, even if it meant she would hate me. "Alex, no!" Diana screamed.

Nor would I betray my friendship to Lily and Soren, and make them die. "Kill _me,_" I rasped, but Mason shook his head, a smirk playing on his face. "If I did, then it wouldn't be any fun, would it? But then again, it would be amusing to see you beg," he sneered.

"Mason-"

"Every minute you hesitate, the bullet's going to hit one of your friends. And the longer you drag it out, the more chances of them dying of blood loss," Mason said.

I glanced at Soren, and he met my eyes head-on. There was an odd calm in his eyes, and it was unwavering. _Me_. He mouthed silently.

I shook my head. Killing him would mean betraying every one of my friends. Soren narrowed his eyes, becoming more insistent.

"No," I said quietly, and Soren sighed in frustration.

_'One death for the world, Alex. Can you do it?'_ Logic whispered. _'_I.. I can't_'_ I said, and I could practically _feel_ Logic's frustration.

_'You're the same as your father. To save a friend, you would sacrifice the world. Personal loyalty is one of the most dangerous flaws of all, and especially when the fate of the world lies on the success of this quest.'_ Logic hissed, its every word slicing into me like sharp daggers.

_'You want to risk the world for a single life? Are you crazy?'_ Logic spat, disbelief leaking through the words. 'Shut up, Logic," I snapped.

"Kill me, Mason. Then you'll have your revenge on Alex, and... so would Skyler, too," Soren spoke up with a calmness that none of us possessed right now.

Diana's eyes widened. "Soren, what are you _thinking_?" She said, and Lily whipped her head around to stare at Soren, disbelief clear in her eyes.

"What?" Lily whispered, and Soren glanced once towards her, something flashing in his eyes, but it disappeared too quickly for me to recognize it.

Skyler looked at Soren with a morbid interest, and it was then I realized why Skyler had felt familiar the first time I met him.

Because he reminded me of Soren di Angelo.

"Me, Mason. Choose me," he repeated, ignoring his sister, and Mason raised an eyebrow, raising his gun. "Oh, how heroic you all are, it makes me sick," he said disgustedly, his finger curling around the trigger.

The blood drained from Andrea's face as her gun slipped from her hands, crashing to the ground loudly. "No!" She screamed.

"I'm sorry," Soren whispered, looking at Lily, and the gun fired.

A single, agonized cry rang out through the cave.

* * *

><p><strong>Oooer, what a cliffhanger!<strong>

**Is it just me, or does Soren seem to be getting hurt one too many times?**

**Did anyone recognize the Titan's Curse reference?**

**And Alex can't even use his powers to help his friends! Poor Alex!**

**I can practically hear all of you guys and girls out there planning my assassination/murder... just remember that I can't update if I'm dead! *hides***

**Review count is 80!**

**R&R!**

**~~NightShadow99**


	16. Leila, Skyler: Bittersweet Sacrifice

**Dedicated to MeganAnnabethJackson for being the first reviewer for the previous chapter!**

**_IMPORTANT_ AN at bottom!**

* * *

><p><em>I'm screaming out,<em>  
><em>Can you hear me?<em>  
><em>I bleed for you,<em>  
><em>Forever I will lie awake,<em>  
><em>I would die for you.<em>  
><em>I see the truth,<em>  
><em>I've given you my heart to break,<em>  
><em>I would die for you.<em>

_-Die For You, Black Veil Brides_

*Leila's POV*

"No!" I sobbed, straining to reach forward, ignoring the way my injured leg throbbed painfully at the action. Tears blurred my vision, turning everything into a confusing swirl of colors and sounds.

Beside me, Diana let out a cry of pain, before she fell to her knees limply, her breath ragged, and her hands pressing against the exact same spot he had been shot.

Directly over the heart.

Alex's face was white as a sheet of paper, and he looked utterly crushed as he took in the sight in front of him, and I had a horrible sense of déjà vu.

The moment stretched on, until Mason broke it, lowering Andrea's gun. "Good riddance," he spat, and Alex's face changed to that of pure fury. "I'm going to _kill_ you," he hissed out through clenched teeth.

"Why?" Andrea suddenly whispered brokenly. "Why him?" Her ice blue eyes, so full of jealousy and anger, had changed to that of grief. She walked towards Soren, kneeling on the ground to reach out for him.

Somehow, the simple act broke me out of my daze, and white hot rage coursed through me. "Get _away_ from him," I snarled venomously, but Andrea didn't appear to hear me, her eyes lost and unfocused as her fingers caressed his face.

"Well, he volunteered," Mason drawled, not a single amount of remorse in his voice, and something in Andrea seemed to snap.

Faster than a snake, Andrea whipped around snatching up her gun on the ground, and shot him. The gunshot echoed unnaturally loudly in the otherwise quiet cave, and Mason let out a gasp of pain as his hand pressed against the wound on his leg.

"Bitch," Mason ground out as he rose unsteadily, holding his javelin in his hand menacingly. "You'll pay for that," he spat, but Andrea looked beyond fear, grief twisting her features into a mask of vengeance.

"You promised," Andrea choked out, "you promised that you wouldn't hurt him if I helped you. You _lied_,"

"Then you should have made me swear on the River Styx, Christallo. Besides, it's not like I forced him to," Mason said tauntingly, and I glared at him with all the hatred I could muster, but he looked unfazed.

He took a step forward, towards Andrea, and away from Alex. "A traitor should never trust another, idiot. You're so pathetic," Mason sneered, cocking Andrea's second gun directly at her.

"Not so much as _you_," Skyler said in a deadly quiet voice, walking forward. Mason raised an eyebrow, but made no other movement to acknowledge the other demigod across from him, beside Diana, who was motionless.

"Not you, too," Mason said mockingly, rolling his eyes.

Behind him, I saw Alex narrow his eyes in an expression of intense concentration, and above us, the ceiling rumbled slightly as a tremor ran through its surface, though it went unnoticed by the others.

"I'm not a two-faced bastard like you, because I am on _no_ sides." Skyler said evenly, and Mason snorted.

Suddenly, another gunshot rang out through the air, and Skyler staggered back, his hand pressing against his side, where a dark red liquid was quickly soaking into his shirt.

Skyler reacted quickly, though, unsheathing a long black sword that seemed to appear out of nowhere, but Mason dodged his attack easily. A little too easily.

It was then I saw that Skyler hadn't been aiming for Mason at all, and by the time Mason realized what was going on, Skyler had slashed through all of Alex's chains, and Alex wasted no time in bringing out Tsunami.

Instantly, Alex lashed out at Mason, who barely turned around in time to block the oncoming attack from behind, dropping the gun and taking out his javelin, using it like a spear.

"Get the others out of here!" Alex shouted, but I had no idea who he was talking to, seeing that Skyler and Andrea were the only ones able to get out.

What surprised me, though, was that Andrea was the first to react, both of her twin guns in her hands as she fired them simultaneously twice, and with a clink, my own bonds dropped from my wrists and ankles.

Directly after, Skyler melted into the shadows, taking Soren's prone form with him. I immediately shut down all thoughts towards him, because I couldn't let the overwhelming numbness get to me, not now. Especially when he died to save our lives. I felt tears start up again, but blinked them away harshly.

"Wh-" I started, but Andrea spun around, aiming with deadly accuracy at Diana's own restraints. "Amicus meus, inimicus inimici mei," She said quietly, and my eyes widened. _My friend, the enemy of my enemy_.

I pushed the confusing emotions to the back of my mind, concentrating on getting everyone out of here.

But Diana was making everything difficult.

She had somehow withdrawn into herself, and while I didn't know if it was on purpose or not, I had no way of finding out if we died.

"Diana!" I hissed as Andrea helped me get her up. Diana stared at us blankly, but reluctantly got to her feet, and Andrea and I started to go towards the cave entrance.

She was alright until we passed Alex and Mason, still locked in furious combat, when she started to struggle weakly, the weapon charms on her makeshift choker shimmering dangerously.

"H-Help Alex," she stuttered, straining to turn around and go to help him. Normally, Diana would have been able to shake us off easily, but right now, she wasn't in the best of conditions, physically and mentally.

"No, Diana! We need to get out!" Andrea said, but her words had no effect on her, and I started to register the stinging pain of the bullet wound on my leg again, stumbling slightly.

But somehow, we managed to make our way out, even with Diana resisting and me limping, and once out, Andrea and I ran down the long tunnel, dragging Diana along with me as she thrashed about, screaming for the person we left behind.

And the worst thing was, I had never told Soren that I loved him.

* * *

><p>*Skyler's POV*<p>

"Soren..."

Leila mumbled, her voice sounding tight and strained, and Andrea kneeled opposite her, tears running down her face as she held a hand to her mouth, trying to stop the choking cries that came out.

Diana was curled up into a ball beside Leila, staring blankly at the face of her dead brother. With his eyes closed, Soren looked like he was merely asleep, and his face was free from any signs of stress.

I stood behind them, wanting to ignore the scene in front of me, as I stared at the entrance of the tunnel that led to the cave, trying to forget the way Diana had pleaded for me to let go of my grudge against her brother.

But I had been too late to do anything. What would Cody say?

_Cody..._

My younger brother, the only member of my family that I had any sense of connection to. My step-father ignored me, my own mother was terrified of me. Terrified of her own son.

At first, I had resented my own brother, because it had been painfully obvious that he had been the 'preferred' child, the 'perfect' son. But he had also been the only one who hadn't been afraid of me, ever since I lost control of my strange powers and caused the death of my only childhood friend.

And then, I met Soren di Angelo.

Cody's best friend, and I had noticed at once that he wasn't normal. He was like _me_. I could sense the aura of dark power he radiated, so similar to mine, and by that time, I had come and gone to Camp Half-Blood and Camp Jupiter enough times to know that he was a demigod.

For some reason, I wanted to help him. Help him survive in a dangerous world he would be inevitably thrust into, and it had taken a lot of effort for me to incorporate the training into something innocent, something that he wouldn't recognize until he needed it.

My feelings of sympathy may also have come from the fact that my parents, my mother in particular, harbored a feeling of dislike and wariness towards him that they worked hard to conceal, but could not escape my notice. Listening to Cody only confirmed the fact that he was an outcast, too, much like me.

*_Flashback*_

_"Sky, there's a new kid in my class that makes me think of you, did I ever tell you that?" Cody piped up, and Skyler looked up from his place on the bed, leaning against the headboard with a leg propped up in front of him to support a sketchbook on his knee._

_"I believe you told me that once or twice," Skyler said teasingly, and Cody scowled slightly before his ever-present smile popped into place, and he darted into Skyler's room, which was a mixture of the colors black, white, and light blue._

_The room itself had only the bare necessities. A single bed pushed up against the window, a small closet, and a plain ebony desk on the other side of the room, and the wall at the foot of the bed was decorated with various drawings and band posters put up in an attempt to personalize the room._

_"He likes art, and wears black a lot, like you!" Cody insisted, pulling up the chair from the desk, and plopped himself down on it, kicking his legs slightly._

_"Okay," Skyler nodded absently, absorbed in adding a few pencil lines here and there in his drawing, completely ignoring Cody. Or so it seemed to the young boy, as Skyler was actually, in fact, struggling to hide a smile._

_"And... he doesn't seem to have many friends," Cody added the last part, as an afterthought, and Skyler's smile dropped from his face. _

_"No exaggerating, Codex. Especially about things like that," Skyler chided, and as predicted, Cody huffed, crossing his arms. "Don't call me Codex!"_

_Skyler had to smile at his younger brother's antics. It had become sort of a ritual for both of them; Cody would come in on Skyler's free times, and proceed to tell him in great detail, enthusiastically, about his school._

_"But it's true! Everybody's scared of him already, but I'm not! So I said hi," Cody said proudly, sounding rather like a kindergartner at show-and-tell, but Skyler decided not to point it out._

_"What did he say?" _

_"Nothing," Cody said, frowning slightly. "He said nothing. He didn't even look at me before walking away," _

_Skyler stopped in his sketching, setting the pad and pencil aside to give his full attention to his little brother. This new kid _did_ remind Skyler of himself, especially during his time in Camp Half-Blood, which Cody knew all about, of course._

_"Did you find out his name?" Skyler said, and Cody perked up. "He didn't tell me directly, but I know because the teacher called on him during class. He's Soren di Angelo,"_

* * *

><p><em>"Go to your room, Skyler. We're having guests over today," his mother said, her eyes not meeting his blue. He had always been told that his eyes were unnerving, too old, too world-weary for his age, a fact that had been proven over and over again whenever his mother was unable to have direct eye contact with him.<em>

_Skyler paused, setting his fork down, before silently rising up out of his chair, and dropped his dishes in the sink, before he headed up the stairs for the small comfort of his room, the only place where he felt at ease._

_He closed the door, and sat down tiredly on his desk chair, resting his head against the cool surface of the wood. Apparently, it seemed that they were too ashamed of him and his strangeness to even consider allowing the guests -whoever they were- to have a glimpse of him. Was he really that horrible?_

_A few minutes passed by, before the door opened again, and Skyler raised his head to see Cody look in timidly. "What?" Skyler said, hoping that he didn't sound too harsh. After all, it wasn't his fault that his own parents hated him._

_"Um.." For once, Cody was hesitant to speak, coming in and closing the door quickly and quietly behind him. "What, Codex?" Skyler asked, his tone considerably much softer._

_Cody grumbled something under his breath that sounded suspiciously like a disagreement about his nickname, and Skyler hid a smile._

_"Is it about Soren again?" Skyler guessed, and Cody looked up, a faint blush coloring his cheeks. "Do I really talk about him that often?" Cody asked, and Skyler couldn't stop the smile that broke out on his face. "Yeah," he confirmed._

_Cody's blush grew deeper, much to Skyler's amusement. "Do you like him?" Skyler took a stab, and judging from the way Cody's eyes widened comically, he was correct._

_However, his little brother didn't respond immediately, which was unusual. Cody looked at his feet again, before he mumbled something intelligible under his breath. Skyler raised an eyebrow. "Pardon?" _

_"Am I strange?"_

_Skyler's eyes narrowed instinctively on hearing that word. He'd heard it so many times before, but hearing his own brother apply it to himself, brought up his protectiveness. Cody took a step back, and Skyler realized that Cody was nervous enough already._

_"Never, _ever, _u__se that word, especially not on yourself. I'm the one who's strange, not you, Cody," Skyler said fiercely, and Cody looked taken aback. _

_"But.. the other boys like girls, not boys. What's wrong with me?" He whispered, and Skyler got out of his chair, walking over to Cody. He put both his hands on the younger boy's shoulders, staring into his light green eyes._

_"Nothing's wrong with you. You can't help who you end up liking, and if the others can't accept it, then they're idiots."_

_Cody smiled slightly at Skyler's words, but there was still a hint of uneasiness in his face. "What would Soren think?" Cody said, and Skyler said, "Did you even tell him?"_

_The boy shook his head slightly. "Then how would you ever know? Don't automatically assume things, and definitely never think you're strange or there's something wrong with you. You aren't strange, and there's nothing wrong with you, okay?" Skyler scolded, and Cody nodded meekly._

_They stood in silence, before Skyler broke it. "Well?" He asked. "What are you waiting for?"_

_A few days later, Cody burst in Skyler's room, with a visitor, excitedly, a huge smile on his face. Skyler didn't need to see Cody's hand holding the visitor's -he assumed that he was Soren- tightly, to know what had happened._

_Skyler looked at Soren, who stared defiantly back at him, a certain degree of wariness inside them, his dark blue eyes ready for any challenge to be thrown at him. _

_So much like himself._

_*Flashback End*_

When Cody died, I had not known whether to regret ever encouraging Cody or not.

I hated myself for not telling Cody of the curse sooner, and not being there to help. I wanted to put the blame somewhere else, and it had shifted to Soren at some point.

Soren, who had been like my second younger brother, the one who made Cody happy.

"Skyler... can't you do anything?" Leila rasped out, her voice snapping me out of my memories. I looked down, and she was looking straight up at me, her amber eyes numb with pain.

At her words, I started to say something, but guilt crashed down on me. If I had known how to use my powers, Cody could have been alive.

And the thing was, did Soren really want to be alive? To be shouldered with the responsibility of saving the world, to come back to a world where he would have to fight constantly for life, just to die again, in the end.

Would Soren want Leila, or Cody? Life, or Death? Would Cody want me to take him away again?

Diana unfroze, lifting a head weakly to look up at me. "Please, help my brother," she begged, and a tightness filled my throat. Her brother was dead, because of me, and she had no idea if her significant other would make it out alive.

And yet, she still hoped, grasping at any straws she could reach, no matter how improbable it seemed.

"An eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth. And... a life for a life," I found myself saying. Leila stared uncomprehendingly at me, while Diana's eyes widened imperceptibly.

"You mean-"

"If I were to bring Soren back, I would need someone, alive, to go instead of him. The Underworld does not like to be cheated out of a soul. And I warn you, bringing him back will have consequences. Nobody escapes death, especially twice, and comes back unchanged.

"The only reason I suggest this, is because Soren is a legacy of Hades, therefore would be hard to detect if he went missing or not. The sense of his absence would be masked by the Underworld scent," I said, and Andrea's head lifted, hope returning inside them.

While it was surprising to see the previously heartless girl reduced to tears, I felt a pang of sympathy. Love caused more problems than it solved.

Death was much kinder than Love. Less pain. Less trouble.

"But we need to hurry, and someone else would have to go in his stead," I said, and she barely hesitated.

"I'll go," Andrea said, an undercurrent of steel in her voice. Diana looked at her in shock, while Leila's eyes shone with empathy. She knew why Andrea wanted to go, and understood.

"But-" Diana started, but Andrea turned to look at me. "What do I have to do?" She asked me, and I stared straight into her ice blue eyes, into her soul. She shivered slightly, but now was not the time to care about discomfort.

I knelt down beside all of them, and slowly, stretched out my right hand, and put my index and middle finger against her pulse, which throbbed gently in count with her heartbeats. Diana and Leila held their breaths, not daring to make a sound.

Concentrating hard, I reached out with my other hand, and grasped Soren's wrist, where his pulse should be. His skin felt colder than my own, and I could already sense the stiffness setting in. I would have to act quickly.

Closing my eyes, I focused on the soft fluttering of Andrea's pulse under my fingertips. I imagined her life under my fingers, the pulsating aura of her soul. It flickered faintly under my hands, instinctively flinching away from my touch, but I persisted, until I felt the warmth get soaked into my fingers.

I directed it mentally down my arm, across my heart to my opposite arm, and slowly, the warm life flooded through me, and it was tempting to stop right there, to keep the life inside of me forever. But I clenched my teeth, pushing it out of me, down my left hand.

Most of you would be unfamiliar with the sensation of life flowing through your body. Life, was an intangible object, a plasma of pure light, joy, happiness, everything that makes life worth living. Letting it go, was easily one of the hardest things I had ever done.

It was harder than simply letting go of a prized possession. More like, tossing away all of your treasures, and knowing that you'll never be able to see it again.

Diana sucked in a breath sharply when the life finally reached Soren, where it paused. Like how heat always flows toward cold, it surged forward in a wave, streaming into his body with the force of a dam breaking. And where my hands touched Soren's wrist, the stiffness slowly melted away, replaced with living, flexible skin.

Meanwhile, Andrea's breathing became ragged and unsteady, her already pale features growing even paler, and her lips started turning blue, as she started to shiver. She sagged forward, but Leila caught her, stopping her from falling.

"Tell... sorry.. A-Alyssa... Soren.." Andrea gasped out, her pulse becoming faint and thready under my fingers. "I will," Leila promised, tears coming down her cheeks again.

Andrea gave a weak smile, before a single tear trickled down her cheek, and her eyes closed, her pulse fading as her heart gave one more beat, and stopped.

At the same moment, Diana gave a cry of happiness. "I can sense him!"

Leila paused for a moment to lay a lifeless Andrea down gently, smoothing the hair away from her face, and turned to look at Soren, who looked noticeably more alive, and sound asleep. His breathing, while weak, was growing stronger, and Leila smiled.

"Thank you," Diana choked out, and I gave a faint smile. "Not me, thank Andrea," I reminded her, and I closed my eyes again as a wave of dizziness came over me, along with the sensation of loss that came from the abrupt absence of life.

For minutes that seemed to stretch into hours, there was no words spoken. At least, until someone made their way out of the cave. "What happened?"

"Alex!" Diana cried with relief, a huge weight seeming to lift from her shoulders. But Alex seemed different, as he surveyed the scene in front of him coolly, his grey eyes piercing. There was an unfamiliar air about him, and he looked almost unrecognizable.

My suspicions were proved when Leila looked up, her eyes narrowing at Alex's approach, subconsciously tightening her grip on Soren's hand.

"I'm not Alex," he said, looking at Diana with a mixture of coldness and confusion, and even as I watched, Diana's face changed from that of joy, to a look of venom.

"Not _you_ again," she spat.

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><p><strong>Oooh, did anyone like Skyler's past? I really loved writing it!<strong>

**Gods, this chapter was full of cute fluff to utter angst to mystery! It's a record!**

**If Alex isn't Alex, then who _is_ he? All shall be revealed in the next chapter!**

**What happened to Mason?**

**I bet none of you expected Skyler's POV, right? I didn't think of writing it in, but it came out, and guess what? I'm satisfied!**

**Review count is 86!**

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><p><strong><em><span>Bad News, everybody<span>_: School's started, sadly, and my parents want me to lay off the computer for a freaking FIVE months, to concentrate on my studies.**

**But luckily for me and you all, I managed to compromise for one hour of computer time per weekend. So while I won't be able to update as often, you'll still get at least a single chapter per week!**

**R&R!**

**~~NightShadow99**


	17. Soren: Identity Crisis

**Dedicated to The Book-Crazy Otaku Fangirl for being the first reviewer for the previous chapter!**

**And a Special Mention for MeganAnnabethJackson because she's the one who chose the highly ironic name for my new O.C that appears in here!**

* * *

><p><em>I close both locks below the window<em>  
><em>I close both blinds and turn away<em>  
><em>Sometimes solutions aren't so simple<em>  
><em>Sometimes good bye's the only way<em>  
><em>And the sun will set for you<em>  
><em>The sun will set for you<em>  
><em>And the shadow of the day<em>  
><em>Will embrace the world in grey<em>

_-Shadow Of The Day, Linkin Park_

*Soren's POV*

"...don't give a damn!"

"It's not like..."

"..., okay?"

"What if..."

"-Va al diavolo!"

"Already there."

"Just..."

The voices pierced through my mind, and along with it, brought a mind-splitting headache. And I felt like I had been run over by a truck, stomped on by a whole herd of horses, and it hurt to breathe.

Everything was dark, and it took me a few moments to realize that my eyes were closed, and the main source of the pain came from my heart, literally.

Wait... pain?

The last thing I had remembered, was the sound of gunshot. And then, nothing. If I was dead, why did it hurt so much?

_'Soren?'_ Diana's voice said cautiously, and I winced inwardly at how loudly her voice reverberated inside my skull. How was she able to speak to me, unless it was a legacy of Hades thing?

_'Hurt.. everything hurts,'_ I mumbled out, finding it hard to barely think coherently, much less speak. Instantly, a wave of relief crashed over me, and it only served to add to my headache. And the place where I was laying on, was extraordinarily uncomfortable, and my neck felt stiff from being elevated slightly, on a much softer and warmer surface.

"Soren's awake!" Diana said aloud, and once again succeeded in sending stabs of pain towards my skull, and I groaned, shifting slightly.

It was enough to get the attention of everybody, whoever everybody was, and instantly, they quietened, thankfully. _'Are you okay?' _Diana said, and I would have rolled my eyes, if my eyes had been open.

_'Feel like hell,'_ I muttered, trying to regain control of my body, which felt numb, like I was under a sedative. If this was what it felt like to be sedated, then gods forbid, I was _never_ going to a hospital.

I tried again, cracking my eyes open slightly, and blinked them open, trying to make sense of the sudden whirls of shapes of grey and black.

And instantly squeezed my eyes shut, a sudden terror pounding through me. I couldn't make sense of what was happening, only that something was terribly, horribly wrong.

No.

"Soren? You're okay now. Is it too bright?" A concerned voice floated down towards me, and I recognized Lily. It did nothing to ease the uneasiness in my chest, and my breathing started to get shaky.

"He's hyperventilating!"

"What?"

No... it can't be.

"Lily, can't you get him warmer?"

"He's going into shock, but I don't know why."

The pictures flashed in my head, images of the moment I had just opened my eyes to. Something was missing. Something was wrong.

"Fuck you, Xander, don't just sit there!"

"What am I supposed to do, exactly? I'm not a doctor,"

Grey. Black. Darkness. Pain.

"Skyler, what's happening?"

"I don't know, I've never done this before,"

Cold. So cold, so empty, bleak, and dark. Too dark, too much grey, too much pain..

_'Soren, calm down. Please, you're worrying everybody,'_

No, no, I can't calm down! Will anybody just tell me what's wrong with me?

"Dammit, he's-"

"Soren, everything's okay, just-"

No. Everything was _not_ okay. Not okay at all. _'Everything's all wrong!'_

_'Just tell me-' 'Grey. Too much grey, so cold... Everything's wrong,'_ I whispered, feeling the sudden apprehension and panic rise.

_'Soren, just open your eyes,'_ Diana coaxed, and I sat up abruptly, pushing away everyone that was surrounding me. They were too close, too loud...

And I finally found my voice. "No.." I rasped out, refusing to open my eyes. If I did, nothing would be the same again. I couldn't.

"Soren, what's wrong?" Lily asked me, and I drew my legs up, curling into a ball. Everything went dark, and I relaxed slightly. If it was dark, opening my eyes wouldn't be any different.

"Please, Soren, tell me what's going on!" Diana said in a panicked voice, and I knew that she would find out the minute I opened my eyes.

This couldn't be happening. Please tell me this is all a dream...

"Soren?" Skyler's voice said quietly, and for a moment, I forgot everything, everything around me, just remembering Skyler and Cody and warmth and laughter.

"Calm down, you're okay," he continued, and I took a shuddering breath, fighting to keep control again. I hated myself for loosing control so easily, for letting everything slip. I felt weak.

I slowly lifted my head from my knees, and took a deep breath, before opening my eyes.

_No..._

* * *

><p>"What are you going to do?" Diana asked Skyler, who looked around, before shrugging slightly.<p>

"Head to Camp Half-Blood, since coming along will only attract more monsters. And I need to lay low for a while, ability-wise, because right now, the Underworld is in chaos, and I do not want to be in the middle of it," Skyler sighed, and Lily winced, but I rubbed her shoulder awkwardly in an attempt to reassure her that I wasn't offended.

"Thanks, by the way," I called out, and Skyler turned around to face me, his expression serious. "Don't be. I caused your death in the first place, legacy of Hades. I apologize for that,"

"About Cody.." I faltered slightly, but continued on. "Do you forgive me?"

Skyler closed his eyes, sighing slightly, before opening them again. "Things like that, do not need forgiveness. It was not your fault, after all," he said softly, before giving a faint smile, achingly identical to Cody's, and walked away, soon disappearing into the night.

We all stood there in silence, feeling the cool night breeze, until Xander broke the silence. "Could that have been any more sappy?" He said slightly disgustedly, and Diana glowered at him, and Lily frowned in disapproval.

"Al- Xander, just shut up." I said, rolling my eyes, and Xander shrugged, twirling Tsunami in his hand absently. "Well, it was," he said without any remorse, and Lily sighed.

"It's really creepy to see how different they are, even when he's technically the same person," Lily whispered to me, and I smiled grimly. "You'll just have to put up with Xander until his AIDID switches again," I said, and Lily looked confused.

"AIDID?"

"Ability-Induced Dissociative Identity Disorder. Or, in other words, Ability-Induced Multiple Personality Disorder. Diana made it up," I explained, and Diana snickered.

"It might sound funny, but it's still better than calling Alex a schizo," she added, and Xander frowned. "Don't you _dare_ call me a schizophrenic," he said coldly, and Diana exaggerated her eye-roll.

"You're not Ale-," she said, and I sighed. '_Don't go arguing again, I'm tired,'_ I complained, and Diana huffed, but bit back the rest of her retort, which had contained some pretty colorful language. _'It makes me wonder on how Alex manages his two personalities -which I might say, are complete opposites,'_

_'Maybe Alex doesn't even know Xander exists. Remember how he didn't remember anything?'_

_'I'll just ignore the pun, and say yes. But it's never been for so long... What if-'_

_'Worrying won't help anything. With luck, Alex will be back by tomorrow,' _I said, and Diana relaxed slightly, shooting Xander a hostile glare, who returned it with an equally cold stare.

_'With luck,'_ she agreed.

"Let's just find a place to rest. Here is good," Lily offered quickly, filling in the silence, and with much grumbling and complaints later, we managed to secure some spots under trees, and stretched out, trying to compensate for the absence of our backpacks, which had been lost in the confusion in the Underworld.

Andrea...

I didn't know what to think about her.

At first, I just tolerated her, then I disliked her when she had the rivalry thing with Lily -which still makes me confused- and now, I don't know my opinions on her. She saved my life by her own life, essentially choosing to die.

You can't just go on disliking someone when they die for you. _Death by the hand of one closest to heart._ If what Andrea implied, and Diana said, was true, the death was Andrea's and it was by my hand. _I_ killed her.

Just like I killed Cody. If it hadn't been for me, he wouldn't have died. If I hadn't been so _stupid,_ he would've known to stay away from me. Just how many deaths was I going to cause? Just how much blood was going to be spilled by me?

"Soren,"

I glanced up from my spot on the grass, arms crossed behind my head on the tree roots, to see Lily sitting by me, her luminescent grey eyes glowing like a pair of stars. She grinned softly, and said, "Stop brooding, you look depressed."

I raised an eyebrow. "How-" "-do I know? Well, when you're brooding, you stare off into the far distance, towards the left," she said, waving her hands for emphasis, and I just blinked slowly.

Lily's grin faded, until she just looked solemn, making her look like one of those angels in the church glass mosaics. The fact that she had a faint aura of light around her also added to the angelic image.

And no, I didn't mean it that way.

_'What way?'_ Diana said, confused. She had chosen to sleep up a tree, claiming that she wanted to keep watch, but I suspected that she just wanted to be as far away as possible from Xander without making it obvious.

'_Never mind,'_ I said quickly.

"Is it about Andrea?" Lily asked softly, oblivious to my conversation with Diana, her eyes staring disconcertingly into mine. "No," I said curtly, trying to avoid the conversation I could feel following up. I didn't want to talk about my mistake, and the fatal consequence it had had.

Lily, thankfully, sensed it, and dropped the subject, instead choosing to lean back against the tree, propping herself into a sitting position. I tried to ignore the way her hands rested against the grass, dangerously close, choosing instead to look up at the sky, searching for the tiny specks of light we call stars.

"I can't see the stars much anymore," Lily said regretfully, following my gaze to the black, inky sky, which the tree leaves above us obscured. "You can still see the sun. And besides, there's still places left," I said, and Lily smiled.

"Sure," she agreed, but she sounded distracted. The air around us lapsed back into a kind of peaceful silence that could be only achieved in the wilderness, in the mountains.

How a simple two-day trip in the Underworld had dumped us from Las Vegas to the Rocky Mountains, I had no idea, but we were kind of just going with the flow.

Skyler had said the Golden Apple had just simply disappeared when Mason had stolen it. And the only place we had been able to come up with that had golden apples, was the Garden of the Hesperides, where Hera's golden tree was guarded by Ladon and four nymphs.

Which meant we needed to get to San Francisco. It was a bit of a relief, actually, to know that we might have a chance at succeeding, no matter how small it might be.

I risked a glance to my right, and saw that Lily was fast asleep, her lips parted slightly. The moonlight turned her hair silvery, and I had to look away again because I suddenly felt strange, and my cheeks felt too warm.

My own heartbeat pounded loudly in my ears, and I concentrated on looking out ahead of me, determined to focus on something else. But it only served to remind me of my resurrection.

A resurrection that had come with its own consequences.

I tried to forget the fact that everything in front of me, was in shades of grey, struggling to remember how the trees looked at night, and exactly what color Lily's eyes had been.

Sighing, I closed my eyes, and soon, I drifted off to sleep into one of the worst nightmares of my life.

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><p><strong>Long time no see, buddies! High school's a whirlwind! Dammit!<strong>

**Awww.. Leiren's so cute I can't stop smiling! And no, this isn't a cliffhanger... at least by my standards.**

**BTW, there _is_ a disorder called Dissociative Identity Disorder (Multiple Personality Disorder), and I just added the 'Ability-Induced' part, 'cause technically, it _is_ ability induced.**

**What do you think is Soren's 'consequence'? The hints are in the song lyrics above and also near the last parts of this chapter, not counting the AN.**

**Did you guess who Xander is, exactly? **

**Where did Alex go?**

**How are they going to get to San Francisco in approximately seven to six days? They're demigods, who knows what might happen?**

**Review count is 91!**

**R&R!**

**~~NightShadow99**


	18. Alex: Unanswered Questions

**Dedicated ****to the Oracle of Akemi,** **a new face!**

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><p><em>Look into my heart you will find<br>__There's nothing there to hide  
><em>_Take me as I am take my life  
><em>_I would give it all I would sacrifice  
><em>_Don't tell me it's not worth fighting for  
><em>_I can't help it there's nothing I want more  
><em>_You know it's true  
><em>_Everything I do - __I do it for you _

_-(Everything I Do) I Do It For You, New Found Glory_

*Alex's POV*

_The cave ceiling broke open above them, and Alex concentrated furiously, trying to keep the gallons of Lethe water from crashing down on them._

_He stood in the middle of the cave, and raised his hands, causing the large globule of water to split into two smaller spheres, which lengthened and curled into two twin coils of grey water, which swirled like snakes._

_The water surface rippled as it tried to break free of his control, but stayed where it was, much to Alex's relief. He didn't plan on making an accident and wiping out both their memories. _

_But it was so tempting to let the water fall down on Mason. A temptation that Logic apparently shared. _

_'_He's a nuisance, an obstacle in your path. He kidnapped Diana, killed Soren, and shot Lily. How much more are you willing to sacrifice because you were too weak?_' Logic whispered, and Alex clenched his teeth, fighting back the anger and fury that clouded his thoughts._

_"Never touch my friends again, or I'll take away your memories," Alex said in an eerily calm tone, and Mason took a step back, his eyes widening slightly as one of the coils of water started towards him, flowing smoothly in the air._

_"You wouldn't," Mason managed to say bravely, but Alex ignored him, curling his right hand into a fist. Suddenly, the two coils of water merged together into an even bigger sphere._

_But the single action, coupled with exhaustion, was all it took for Alex's eyes to darken into stormy grey. _

_Mason frowned in confusion, but his expression quickly changed to that of fear when Xander flicked his hand, and the sphere pressed forward, backing Mason up until he stood at the edge of a cliff at the back of the cave, formerly unseen because of its position._

_His hazel eyes, wide with terror, flickered back and forth between Xander's cold grey eyes and equally grey Lethe water, to the cliff behind him, which stretched endlessly down, spelling out a certain death for the son of Ares._

_"You wouldn't," he choked out. "Alex can't kill a person in cold blood,"_

_Xander cocked his head to the side, his grey eyes like pools of mercury, and equally as deadly. He studied Mason calculatingly, and not without a hint of dark amusement. But not pity. Xander never pitied._

_"You're right," he said calmly, and Mason breathed out a sigh of relief he hadn't known he was holding. _

_"But I'm not Alex," Xander finished with an emotionless face, and Mason barely had the time to open his mouth in shock before the sphere of water slammed into him, sending both the grey water and Mason straight over the edge of the cliff._

_Xander looked at the empty place where his nemesis had been only seconds ago, with no remorse nor regret in his face, analyzing the scene in front of him with a certain kind of detached calmness. _

_"You can't forgive your enemies, Alex," he whispered quietly, and turned around, walking out of the cave without a single glance back._

* * *

><p>"Ahh! Watch out!"<p>

"What's going on? I can't see!"

"Don't look!"

_"What the fuck is there to look at?"_

**"Shut up!"**

"How can I keep quiet when I might die any moment?"

**"I don't know, just let me concentrate!"**

"There's a storm cloud! Hide me!"

"Where?"

"There- NO DON'T OPEN IT!"

"Jeez, don't be rude! Soren, Alex is being mean!"

_"Alex-"_

"Save me! Holy Poseidon!"

**"Be quiet!"**

"SOREN DON'T OPEN THE DAMN WINDOW!"

_"Whoops, my hand slipped."_

"CLOSE IT! I SWEAR THAT EAGLE IS LOOKING AT ME! CLOSE IT, SOREN!"

"_Non me ne frega un cazzo."_

"But-"

"_Chiudi il becco._"

"Okay, I'm sorry! I -what? No, don't-"

**"I SAID FUCKING SHUT UP EVERYBODY SO I CAN CONCENTRATE OR I'M CRASHING THIS DAMN HELICOPTER!"** Diana thundered.

Dead silence.

When Diana turned around for a moment to survey us, she gave a sigh of exasperation. "Honestly, you're all like five-year-olds," she sighed.

Confused? Let me give you a recount of a few minutes earlier.

In an attempt to cover as much distance as possible, we had 'borrowed' a helicopter from a very confused park ranger, and Diana was now trying to fly it, being the only one who had a general idea of how to control it.

And at first, in the back, Soren had been at the far left, Lily in the middle, and I was at the far right, but somewhere along our screaming and yelling, Soren had switched places with Lily, and was now casually pinning me with his forearm dangerously close to the open window.

"Uh, before you lecture us all, can I get out of this position?" I tried to say calmly, but it came out as a squeak to my mortification because Soren was pressing down on my windpipe.

"Soren," Diana said warningly. "Diana," Soren mimicked, his voice eerily similar to hers. They stared at each other in silence for a few seconds, before Soren heaved a sigh, letting go of me.

"You owe me," Diana called out to me, and I nodded vigorously. "My savior," I agreed, and Lily snickered from beside Soren.

* * *

><p>I was shamelessly the first out of the helicopter, and Diana, predictably, was the last one out, giving regretful glances towards the helicopter. Sometimes, I wonder how we even got together, not taking into consideration that <em>I<em> had been the one with a crush on her.

"Um, so we just... leave it here?" Lily asked, and Diana nodded.

"I'm pretty sure they'll be able to find it, it's in plain view, right?" Diana said. "And so are _we_ unless we start moving," Soren grumbled, urging us to move.

Ever since his nervous breakdown in the Underworld, Soren seemed to become a bit more tense and paranoid than usual, and he got tired easily, a fact that he tried to hide from us, but it was kind of obvious from the way Soren looked a bit out of breath even now.

"Too late," I cut in, picking up the pace. "Telekhines approaching from the six and nine o' clock direction!"

"_Merda,_" Diana cursed as we all brought out our weapons, still making our way across the Rocky Mountains. A few more steps, and the group of monsters I had seen came into clear view, and there appeared to be about two dozen.

Almost simultaneously, Diana and Lily fired arrows, disintegrating several, but there was only so much they could do, and Diana switched to her electric spear as we all took up defensive stances, Diana and I going on offense.

"Fresh demigod meat!" One of the telekhines crowed gleefully right before it was sliced with a single slash of my sword. It exploded into dust, and the mountain air picked up just then, blowing the particles into the oncoming monsters' faces, causing disorientation.

"Nice, Diana!" Lily called out just as she blocked a claw coming her way, and swept out its feet from under it, and stabbed downwards with her dagger.

I soon found myself surrounded by a sea of monsters, and I slashed, ducked, and counter-attacked fiercely as if my life depended on it. Unfortunately, it did.

Occasionally, there was a bright flash of lightning, and a wave of heat as Diana and Lily used their powers. Mine were still currently useless from another bout of amnesia, which I suspected had to do with Soren nearly attacking me this morning when I tried to wake him.

_*Flashback*_

_"Soren? Wake up," I said, standing at a safe distance away from the legacy of Hades. During my time with the di Angelos', I quickly learned that none of them were early morning people, and it was better to be at least four feet away when waking them up._

_Diana yawned, stretching, and her eyes widened when she saw me, which was weird. "You're back," she said, which made no sense at all, because I'd never left in the first place. But then again, she might be talking about the time between me in the cave facing Mason, where everything suddenly goes blank, and I wake up in the middle of a wood, surrounded on all sides by open sky and trees._

_"What do you mean?" I asked confusedly, just as Lily stretched, accidentally hitting a dozing Soren on the head. _

_His eyes opened instantly, and he looked around wildly before he saw me, a death glare boring holes into my soul. "Wha-" I was cut off when Soren lunged forward, but Lily managed to tackle him to the ground at the same time Diana stepped in front of me._

_"Alex woke up," Diana said, and Soren looked at me suspiciously, before sighing, and stood up, turning away from me._

_"What's wrong with all of you guys today?" I demanded, but Diana just shrugged. "Dunno, we're just feeling a little funny after the time in the Underworld."_

_And then I realized that Soren was actually alive in front of me. "Hey, Soren's-" "-alive, I know. While you were out of it, we managed to heal Lily's bullet wound, Skyler brought Soren to life and left, and it's a long story that I'll tell you when we've finished this quest," Diana cut in, staring me down, and I rubbed my forehead, fighting back a building headache._

_"Okay," I relented, and Lily's excited shout cut into our conversation. "Hey, look! There's a helicopter!"_

_*Flashback End*_

I shook my head, slamming back into present just in time to see a telekhine come straight for me, and I was too slow to block this time, and the resulting force sent me stumbling back a few feet.

The air became colder around me as Soren attacked mercilessly with Iskios, stabbing the monsters into oblivion. Lily crouched, and vaulted over Soren just as he ducked down, bringing her dagger down on a monster behind him.

It looked as if we were winning, when everything started to go wrong all at once.

Soren suddenly whipped around, his eyes widening as his mouth opened, "Watch-", but had to stop halfway to parry an attack from a wicked sharp dagger.

I then saw what Soren had been trying to warn us about.

A telekhine took out a vial filled with a familiar glowing green substance, and threw it as it was disintegrated by Lily, and the vial sailed in the air.

I tried to catch it, deflect it, anything, but I missed, and Diana turned around just in time to see the Greek fire heading straight for her, and her spear raised instinctively to defend herself.

But I knew that the electricity arcing across her spear would only set it off, and there was no way even Lily would survive an explosion like that at close range.

Everything around me seemed to slow down as blood roared in my ears, drowning everything out, and without thinking, I surged forward, clearing the several feet easily, and tackled Diana.

She staggered back with a surprised yelp, and the Greek fire exploded just then, and the resulting shockwave was enough to send most of the monsters over the side of the mountain. It was then I realized that we were fighting dangerously close to a sheer cliff drop a hundred metres down.

"Diana, we're-"

"No!" A scream of pure fury broke through my sentence, and Diana suddenly let out a cry of pain, staggering away from me, and a blast of light blinded me temporarily, leaving me dazed and confused.

My vision cleared to see Lily shift into Silver, snarling and growling fiercely at the rest of the telekhines, standing in front of Soren, who was half-kneeling on the ground, one of his knees oozing blood from a wide scratch. His face was grimacing as he got up, swaying slightly unsteadily as he leaned heavily on his sword.

Silver snarled and lashed out in a display of ferociousness I have never seen her display before, snapping and clawing at the monsters, driving them back.

I was about to go and help her, when Diana screamed. "Alex, behind you!"

I barely had the time to turn around to see the telekhine behind me before something slammed into me, pushing me right over the edge of the cliff.

Into empty air.

* * *

><p><strong>If anybody didn't know, the first part of the chapter was about what happened in the cave after when Lily and Andrea dragged Diana out, leaving Alex and Mason alone in the cave.<strong>

**And the reason why Soren was hostile to Alex in the first place? As a side-effect from dying, Soren can't decipher colors anymore. Yes, I'll say it right out. Soren is colorblind, and thus he didn't know that Alex had come back overnight.**

**And no, only Diana knows about Soren's current disability. Why it's a secret from the other two, will be revealed later.**

**In case you don't know, Alex's falling over the edge of the cliff, it happened in his dream from chapter 8, 'Alex: Nighttime Thoughts'.**

**Did anybody like the funny scene in the middle? **Normal**was Alex, Bold was Diana, **underlined** was Lily, and **_Italics_** was Soren.**

**Review count is 100! (Wow, we're nearing a hundred reviews, _already?_ Not that I'm complaining.)**

**R&R!**

**~~NightShadow99**


	19. Leila: Twins' Despair

**Dedicated to FictionalSalvation.**

**Special thanks to The Book-Crazy Otaku Fangirl for listening to my rant when I was pissed off because my computer crashed on me.**

* * *

><p><em>Save yourself<em>  
><em>Don't look back<em>  
><em>Tearing us apart until it's all gone<em>  
><em>The only world I've ever known sleeps beneath the waves<em>  
><em>But I remember<em>  
><em>I won't give up on you<em>  
><em>I can feel you in my heart, just show me the way<em>  
><em>I don't belong here<em>  
><em>Alone<em>

_-Never Go Back, Evanescence_

*Leila's POV*

"Diana!"

Soren cried out, but before I knew what was happening, Diana had whipped her spear around, stabbing straight through the telekhine, and she dove over the side of the cliff before the dust had even come down.

Soren's face went white as paper even as he tried to crawl painstakingly over to the edge, and I padded carefully beside him, watching him to make sure he didn't fall over.

His hands clenched the edge of the cliff so hard that parts of rock broke away and tumbled down, and I could see that Soren was shaking, his midnight blue eyes wide with absolute terror. I had never seen him so scared before, but Soren barely lasted ten seconds before he withdrew, his phobia forcing him to step away from where his sister had been moments before.

"We-we need to help her," Soren said, but I knew that he was in no condition to walk, never less go down after her. Even though it felt like my heart was breaking to look at what was happening, and be powerless to help, I clenched my teeth.

I felt the prickling sensations all over my body, and found myself back to my human form again. Slowly, I made my way over to Soren, who was staring into empty space, his injured leg held awkwardly.

Diana and Alex will be fine. We've survived near-death situations before, why would it be any different now?

"Diana... she can fly, right?" I asked cautiously, and Soren broke out of his trance, turning his head around to face me. They were darker than normal, and held so much despair and pain that I shivered, wrapping my arms around myself.

"Not when she's exhausted and helping Alex at the same time," Soren said expressionlessly, his mask back up again, hiding his true emotions behind a cold facade.

But his eyes told the real story. "The only way she'll be able to come back up is... if she lets go," _Which she'll never do,_ I could hear the unspoken words behind his sentence.

Soren tried to get up, but he hissed with pain, his hands automatically reaching towards his badly dislocated knee. "Hold still," I murmured, pressing one hand against his shoulder, and he stopped, warily watching me.

Glancing once at Soren to make sure he knew what I was about to do, I braced my hands against his knee, and pushed down as hard as I could.

"_Merda!_" Soren gasped out as he flinched away from me, but I could hear the muffled click as Soren's knee slid into place. He took deep breaths, trying to calm himself down, as I waited patiently, busying myself with tearing my jacket into strips to bind his leg.

By the time we finished, the sun was high over our heads, searing heat beating mercilessly down on us as we stood up shakily, Soren leaning heavily on me as he struggled to keep his balance.

In a whisper so faint I almost missed it, Soren said something that sent gave me a cold prickling sensation.

"And this time... I don't know if she's even alive.."

* * *

><p>"Soren, you need to rest," I said firmly as he walked, or more like, limped, heavily favoring his right leg.<p>

"No. The sooner we get there, the sooner we'll be able to find her. Diana and Alex are going to be headed to the same place, no?" Soren mumbled, but his eyes were glazed over from tiredness and exhaustion. He looked as if he was going to drop any moment, and all the small injuries we had didn't help the image.

Looking at him in a state like this, too tired to even hold up his usual mask, I didn't have the heart to tell him of my dream earlier today, because I sensed that the only thing that kept him going, was hope.

Because we would be facing a much stronger enemy soon, and I didn't know what the final outcome would be. This was the most crucial part of the entire quest, and it would either end with us succeeding, or death.

_A promise kept, no matter the cost._ I had a feeling that my dream was linked to this particular line, and it didn't make me feel any better.

_Twins become one, to play his own part_. If the twins meant Soren and Diana... it said _his_, not their. One person, not two. I didn't want to think of what would happen to the other.

"...yes. But you're going to be absolutely no help to Diana if you drain yourself and arrive half-dead from shadowtraveling while you haven't fully recovered," I scolded as I pushed him gently down on an empty street bench.

The entire street was dark, and the only source of light came from the lamppost a few feet away from us, glowing with a soft yellow light that seemed like a spark of hope in darkness. The night wind was cooler than the searing heat of the day, and I briefly wished that the wind would pick up.

We were alone in the silence, and it almost seemed too empty without the familiar presence of Diana and Alex, their bantering and good-natured laughter filling the space.

I swallowed down a sob. I needed to be strong, and I couldn't break down, not now, when Soren was already dangerously close to breaking. He hadn't recovered well from his own death, and his mental and physical states were still fragile, especially more so while he was dealing with the aftershock.

_They're going to be okay. We're going to be fine. _I said over and over silently to myself in a mantra, vaguely noticing that Soren was already asleep, his arm curled around my waist, providing a sense of comfort that I couldn't give myself.

-{Time Skip}-

When I woke up the next day without any memory of falling asleep, the sun was already up, and I could feel the warmth of its rays, which would soon become the never-ending heat of summer. I prayed to Apollo, my brother, for guidance, and silently wished that Diana and Alex were safe, and that we would meet again, soon.

I glanced at the still-sleeping Soren, his other hand resting lightly on his sword hilt, hidden from mortal sight by the Mist. But in contrary to his defensive stance, he looked so peaceful, with no traces of pain, anger, nor the guarded wariness. He looked much, much younger, and I suddenly had the feeling of deja vu.

I felt as if I was looking at the true Soren, a Soren he could have, _should_ have been if it wasn't for the chaotic mess of a demigod's fate.

Smiling softly in spite of myself, I brushed away a lock of jet black hair that had fallen into his face, and swore I saw a faint smile. But the moment of peace, the blissful detachment from harsh reality, was soon broken by an unfamiliar voice.

"Hey, hot chick. Whatcha doing with that emo dude?"

I tried to hide my irritation as I looked up into the eyes of a mortal male.

He was with two other white boys, all looking as if they owned the place. They all wore rich but sloppy clothes, as if they wanted to show how little they cared about their parents' money, and to show off their fortune.

They were different from the group in Las Vegas, because while they had looked like street-hardened kids, albeit annoying kids, these boys were just acting out what they had seen in movies and TV.

"He isn't emo," I said simply, looking back down to see if Soren had been woken. He wasn't, which was odd, because while he didn't wake up easily on his own, he was a very light sleeper.

"Emo, Goth, they're all the same. Come with us, you'll be much better off than with someone who probably cries all the time and cuts his wrists like a weakling," the tallest snorted, and I struggled to keep a neutral face as I felt fury bubble up in me.

Soren would never sink low to self-harm, but I winced when I remembered last winter, of his self-destructive personality. _No,_ I reminded myself, _that was because he wanted to warn us._

"For the last time, no. I'm not some whore you can pick up on the streets. Go and find somebody else." I spat, noticing that their eyes weren't on my face, not completely, flickering to below my neck. Sick perverts.

"I'm-" He was cut off by another voice, simmering with cold anger and icy harshness.

"-going to wish you'd never messed with us after I'm finished with you," Soren snarled, his voice sounding much more menacing and darker than normal. It didn't take a genius to know that he was _not_ pleased.

The boy closest to me sneered at him, raising one hand to touch my cheek. I shifted away uncomfortably, glaring at him while my hand itched to draw out my dagger and freak him out. "Why, is she yours?" He drawled, and Soren sat up, slipping back into his darkly aggressive state.

"Leila isn't a piece of meat to own, _bastardo_. Now go along before you regret it, because I'm _not_ in a good mood today," Soren said in a deadly soft tone, and suddenly, the air around us felt too cold to be summer.

The third boy seemed to be the smartest, because he took a step back, looking nervously at us. "Greg, I don't think-"

Greg whirled on him, fists up and ready. "Yeah, you don't think, Ryker. _I_ do," he growled, and Ryker shrank away instinctively, indicating that this wasn't the first time Greg threatened him. The second boy just watched boredly, as if this was a normal occurrence.

In that moment of distraction, Soren struck, moving so fast that one moment, he was on the bench, and the other moment, Greg was on the ground, clutching his bleeding nose, while the second boy staggered back from a black eye. I sprang up from my spot, whipping my leg out to trip him, and knocked him out with a swift punch to the forehead.

Ryker froze, his green eyes wide as they darted back and forth between Soren, the boys, and me. Soren took a step forward, and Ryker held his breath.

"You shouldn't be hanging out with company like this. Get something going with your life, not waste it. Now go," Soren said quietly, and Ryker breathed out in relief.

"Thanks, man. I'm Jordan," he said, and I smiled. "Hi, Jordan. But I think you should get going before these guys recover," I prompted, and he gave a quick nod before running down the street, not looking back.

Soren stared after him for a moment, lost in thought, before he seemed to snap out of it. "What?" I asked, and Soren just shook his head, grimacing slightly as the pain in his bound leg caught up to him.

"Nothing," he muttered, straightening up again. He turned towards away from the city, gazing out over the looming mountain on the horizon. Mount Etna.

"Let's go,"

* * *

><p><strong>It's been so long!<strong>

**How come a week seems so long these days? **

**I created Jordan by accident, and no, he isn't going to make a reappearance. **

**What's going to be Diana's fate? **

**Is she even going to succeed in catching up to Alex, or will they end up someplace different? *cackles* Now _that_'s a good idea...**

* * *

><p><strong>FictionalSalvation, what happened to you? You're usually one of the fastest reviewers, and now you're MIA for more than a week!<strong>

**NO! Don't disappear on me! My friends are disappearing one by one! First Wendy Grace, who completely deleted _every_ trace of her existence, even her own stories -which I was beta reading, then Elmlea, who vanishes halfway through BCSW, and now you?**

**You're my longest friend here on Fanfiction, not counting Elmlea, who first gave me the idea for BBG in the first place! She created Alex and Diana's story, and she disappeared on me! You can't do that to me, too!**

**Review count is 103, or when FictionalSalvation reviews, whichever comes first.**

**R&R!**

**~~NightShadow99**


	20. Diana: Tree Fall

**Dedicated to MeganAnnabethJackson since I haven't dedicated one to her in a long time, and randomer11 because she's the one who gave me the idea for a particular scene in here! **

**Thank the gods, FictionalSalvation is BACK!**

* * *

><p><em>I'll be with you always (Always)<em>  
><em>Know that all these words that-<em>  
><em>Now that I can feel<em>  
><em>Something I never thought was real<em>  
><em>I'll be with you always (Always)<em>  
><em>Know that all these words are true<em>  
><em>If you stay then I won't go<em>  
><em>If you go, I'll always be there<em>  
><em>I don't care<em>

_-Always, Sum 41_

*Diana's POV*

Stark terror was the only thing that registered in my thoughts.

_Not Alex, not Alex,_ it kept repeating over and over. I couldn't let Alex die, not ever. And then I saw him.

Getting closer by the minute, I stretched my hand out in an attempt to catch hold of him, slow his fall, but for the first time in my life, the wind hindered me.

Everything seemed to happen in slow motion, and Alex saw me -or I thought he did- and his eyes widened, and I pressed on, dredging up the last reserves of my strength to go faster.

I streaked through the air like those birds in a dive, but he had already gone too far, out of my reach.

But I was getting closer by the moment, and each second seemed to stretch into hours, as my fingers barely came into contact with him.

Then we hit the trees.

A sharp gasp of pain escaped my lips as the branches sliced painfully against me, giving me numerous scratches, and leaves were _everywhere_, obscuring my view as I tumbled through the branches.

Reaching out blindly, I tried to grab on to a branch, anything to stop my fall, but the thin sticks snapped off in my hands from the momentum, and I blinked back tears as splinters drove themselves into my fingers.

I crashed against the thicker branches and trunk nearing the bottom, and barely had time to register the icy cold sensation of shock creeping up my wrist as it twisted unnaturally.

Black stars danced in my eyes as I reached the ground with a painful thump on my already injured hand, and my vision went dark for a moment as I tried to register the overwhelming amounts of agony that spread out through my entire body.

I didn't know how long I was out, but when I resurfaced, it was still painful, if not even more, then when I had originally landed.

The cold feeling of numbness started to spread out as I blinked away the darkness only to see flashes of colors across my sight. I couldn't move, but felt every inch of my body as it shrieked in pain, and I let out a weak groan. At least I knew no part of me was paralyzed.

_Pain is just a message._ I told myself repeatedly as I struggled to keep down the wave of lethargy as my mind tried to shut down, and I got a headache as a result.

I lay down on the ground, rolling over slightly onto my back -which resulted in me discovering new injuries- as I stared up at the tree.

My breaths coming in short, shallow pants, I tried to stay as calm as possible to catch my breath, while ignoring the protests coming from everywhere, especially my wrist.

_Pain is just a message._ I accidentally breathed in too deeply, causing my ribs to give a sharp stabbing sensation.

_Pain is just a message. Delete message? Message deleted. _

Breathe in, breathe out. Breathe in, then out. _Pain is just a message._ Yellow spots flickered in my sight, and for a moment, I thought I saw something, but it disappeared as quickly as it came.

The shock was creeping up from my hands and legs, starting up to my chest with ominous icy prickles.

_Pain is just a message. Message sent to spam mail._ I focused on the simple words, struggling to keep from going unconscious again. I was too much of a target right in the middle of the woods, and an easy target for any monster who came by.

"Who's there?"

I dimly registered the alarmed voice as my consciousness started flickering despite all my efforts to stay up and awake, though being 'alert' was out of the question.

Even though the pain clouded my thoughts, I felt a throb of panic. What was going to happen to me?

I made the mistake of trying to get up, and only succeeded in letting slip a low moan of agony as the ice was suddenly gone, replaced by a burning fire that seared painfully. _Pain is just... just a message._

"Oh god," the person gasped out, and I would've rolled my eyes if I had been coherent enough. But still, I felt a wave of relief at the same time dread settled in.

God, not gods. This person had no connection whatsoever to Greek mythology. But that would mean a Hades lot of explaining, excuses, and lies.

And I felt white-hot pain exploding everywhere as my injured -most likely broken- wrist moved. I hissed out weakly, but the damage was already done. _Just a message... spam mailbox full._

The mystery person said something again, but it was drowned out as I finally succumbed to the darkness, feeling everything fade away.

_Alex, where are you?_

* * *

><p>"<em>Alex,<em>" I gasped out as soon as I woke up, looking around wildly at my surroundings.

I was in a sterile, white environment that had that distinct clean smell of disinfectant. A hospital.

I started to panic, looking around, but realized that it was too small to be a normal hospital. If it even was a hospital at all.

A closer inspection revealed that the walls were plain, and I was actually in a room, not a hospital. The room was white because the walls were white, but the makeshift bed I was in was actually a mound of soft blankets. I was pretty sure that hospitals didn't have fuzzy blue-and-white checkered blankets.

I sat up, and was rewarded with a throbbing ache in my ribs, and my left wrist felt stiff and unmobile when I tried to move it.

I blinked, and noticed that my wrist was bound tightly with bandages, and I pushed away the blankets on top of me to see that a gash on my leg, scratches on my arms and legs both, and all the small injuries I had sustained, was carefully cleaned out and either stitched shut or bandaged.

I lifted my shirt slightly, and saw that my ribs were bound tightly as well, which explained why it was hard to take a deep breath.

Whoever this was, ought to be a doctor.

"Ow.." I muttered when I moved too suddenly, and my stitched-up leg jerked slightly. Almost as soon as I did, the door opened, and a person walked in, his eyes widening when he saw that I was awake.

"I feel like shit," I announced, and the person raised an eyebrow. "Sure you would. What made you fall out of a tree in the first place?"

Ah, he was the mystery person earlier, and I scowled slightly, remembering how he had jarred my possibly broken wrist. "None of your business," I said defensively, and he snorted.

"And if I had gone on my own business, you would still be out there somewhere in pain," he retorted, and I raised an eyebrow.

"Are we going to argue about this, or are you going to tell me where the Hade-hell I am?" I asked, and he heaved a sigh. "If I knew you would be this annoying, I would've left you there," he muttered under his breath.

"Well?"

"Alright, you're in a small cabin in the mountains. It's my vacation spot when summer break starts," the boy said, crossing the room easily to stand right in front of me. He had short strawberry blond hair, tanned skin, and his green eyes were annoyed.

"What's your name?" I asked suddenly, my ADHD acting up. I mean, I couldn't just keep calling him 'the mystery person' or 'the boy', right?

"Logan," he answered curtly. "What's yours?"

"Bianca," I said, thinking quickly. Call me paranoid, but when you were a demigod, you couldn't take any chances. And I certainly was _not_ going to tell him my real name when I don't even know him.

"Well, Bianca," he drawled slowly, and I could detect the skepticism in his voice. So what if I didn't look Italian like my brother? "Care to tell me why you ended up like this?" He gestured vaguely at me.

"Fell though a tree," I said shortly, leaving out the part that I had fallen _onto_ a tree, not from it. Less information, less questions. "And that's because..." Logan trailed off.

Gods, he was nosy. But at least he isn't an obnoxious moron like Mason was. "Tree climbing. I was looking for-" I cut myself off, a sudden horror rushing through me.

Where was Alex? He had been right in front of me. Logan didn't seem like the type to leave someone behind when they were hurt, and Alex would never leave me voluntarily.

"Alex?" Logan guessed, and I tensed, surveying him suspiciously. Even if Alex _had_ been a bit famous for his intelligence back in our neighborhood, I was pretty sure that unless Logan was a secret stalker, he shouldn't have known.

"How-" "You talked in your sleep. You mentioned something about a lily and Soren?" Logan cut me off, predicting my question.

But my mind was already in hyperdrive. "What day is it?" I said, and Logan looked a little taken aback at my sharpness. Get used to it, buddy.

"Thursday. But why?" he said, but I ignored him, frantically counting back the days in my head. Thursday.. I had been out for an entire two days. Which meant we had only three days left before World War III broke out.

Two days since I last saw Alex. Who could possibly be in worse condition, or could be still out there, looking for me. Or.. I shoved all thoughts of death by falling out of my head. And he didn't even have my ability to soften the fall, which had happened instinctively for me.

I hadn't even realized I had stood up and started to move forward until Logan broke me out of my thoughts with a surprised, "Where are you going? You're in no condition to move!"

I spun around to face him, all the pent up frustration, panic, and fear spilling over me in a torrent of anger. "Listen up, buddy. _I_ will decide when I walk or not, and right now, I need to get _out of here!"_

Harsh, I know, but I was desperate. I shoved past Logan to the open door, and stepped into the small living room, where I quickly spotted the front door.

I was about to head towards it, when Logan grabbed my wrist from behind, and I instinctively elbowed him sharply in the chest. He wheezed, but kept his grip on my wrist, the uninjured one.

"At-at least eat something and rest a bit before you go," he said almost pleadingly, and I stared at him, confused. Why was he so concerned for me?

My face must've shown my confusion, because he flushed slightly, releasing his grasp. "I'm training to be a vet -that's why I come to the woods, just in case I come across an injured animal- and I can't stand anybody walking away when they're hurt,"

I sighed. "Something to eat, yes, rest, no. I've got plenty of rest during that two days, and I'm ADHD. Don't even think about restraining me, because the results won't be pretty."

Logan looked relieved, and he turned around slightly towards where I presumed the kitchen was. "There's a phone on the table, if you need to call anybody," he said over his shoulder as he walked away, and I walked over to the small couch, gingerly sitting down on it.

I reached out for the phone, only to notice it was nearly dead. I sighed, and was about to set it down, when my fingers sparked slightly, and an idea came into my head.

Fiddling with the side of the phone, I quickly located where the charger was supposed to fit in, and brushed my fingertips across it lightly, holding my breath.

There was a tiny flash of blue lightning, and the screen lit up.

"Cool," I whispered, as I paused slightly. Who to call? Not Annabeth, nor my parents. They'd freak out, and I didn't have the time to listen to their rants. It can wait until after the quest.

California. We were near California, and I remembered a certain somebody that I could call. I didn't know if it would be helpful or not, but it was worth a shot.

Taking a deep breath, I punched in the numbers.

"Hello?"

* * *

><p><strong>Who do you think Diana called?<strong>

**I don't have much time right now, so that's it!**

**And where's Alex? Is he injured as much as Diana, or even more?**

**I know, I'm so evil.**

**~~NightShadow99**


End file.
